Eudaimonia, a concept deeply rooted in ancient Greek philosophy, represents the highest good and the ultimate goal of human life. One who achieves this state experiences profound contentment. However, Eudaimonia goes beyond mere happiness or pleasure. It also signifies living in alignment with virtue, wisdom, and purpose. Mastering the 4 Cardinal Stoic Virtues is the path to Eudaimonia.
The 4 Cardinal Stoic Virtues:
The Your Stoic 4 Score App evaluates your journal entries based on the following 4 Cardinal Stoic virtues:
Wisdom: The ability to recognize what is, and what is not, in your control and act accordingly.
Courage: The strength to face challenges, adversity, and fear with resilience.
Justice: Treating others fairly, respecting their rights, and acting in accordance with moral principles.
Temperance: Practicing self-control, moderation, and balance.
Take the app on a Test Drive:
Investigate the rubricwhich powers the AI to assess your journal entry.
Take the Your Stoic 4 Score App out for a test drive by submitting this journal entry that was composed by Chat GPT.
Highlight the entire sample journal entry and then copy it. Access the app via the link below and then paste the journal entry into the submission field.
Create a journal entry in a Google or Word Doc. Compose a narrative which describes your thoughts and actions over the past 24 hours. This app will assess your entry based on the 4 Cardinal Virtues of courage, wisdom, justice, and temperance.
Highlight the entire sample journal entry and then copy it. Access the app via the link below and then paste the journal entry into the submission field.
Take it a step further by copying a suggestion for growth from your assessment and then pasting it in to Chat GPT, and then ask for detailed directions on how you can improve in this realm!
Take it a step further by copying a suggestion for growth from your assessment and then pasting it into Chat GPT via the below. Take an additional step asking a follow up for detailed directions on how you can improve in this realm!
Eudaimonia, a concept deeply rooted in ancient Greek philosophy, represents the highest good and the ultimate goal of human life. For educators this could mean being happy that you chose to become a teacher, that you love your students, that you enjoy your colleagues and are proud of your school. In other words you feel a profound sense of contentment. However, Eudaimonia goes beyond mere happiness or pleasure. It also signifies living in alignment with virtue, wisdom, and purpose. Mastering the 4 Stoic Virtues is the path to Eudaimonia.
The 4 Cardinal Stoic Virtues:
The Your Teacher 4 Score App evaluates your journal entries based on the following 4 Stoic virtues:
Wisdom: The ability to recognize what is, and what is not, in your control and act accordingly.
Courage: The strength to face challenges, adversity, and fear with resilience.
Justice: Treating others fairly, respecting their rights, and acting in accordance with moral principles.
Temperance: Practicing self-control, moderation, and balance.
Take the app on a Test Drive:
Investigate the rubric which powers the AI to assess your journal entry.
Take the Your Teacher 4 Score App out for a test drive by submitting this journal entry that was composed by Chat GPT.
Highlight the entire sample journal entry and then copy it. Access the app via the link below and then paste the journal entry into the submission field.
Now that you’ve seen how the app works, create a journal entry in a Google or Word Doc. Compose a narrative which describes your thoughts and actions at school over the past 24 hours. This app will assess your entry based on the 4 Universal Virtues of courage, wisdom, justice, and temperance.
Highlight the entire sample journal entry and then copy it. Access the app via the link below and then paste the journal entry into the submission field.
Take it a step further by copying a suggestion for growth from your assessment and then pasting it into Chat GPT via the below. Take an additional step asking a follow up for detailed directions on how you can improve in this realm!
It’s been a minute since I released a new podcast, but hey, I’ve got a great excuse. I’ve been busy writing a new book called Even More Hacking Engagement. It was just released. Full disclosure, I’m going to promote it on this episode.
A little over a decade ago, I had a student teacher named Charlie. He was a great guy and now he’s a football coach and a history teacher. Back then he was a green college student. He’s an attractive and friendly guy and most of my students instantly loved him. But I still had some standoffish kids who didn’t want to be subjected to another jock Social Studies student teacher. I recognized early the potential that these backbenchers could cause him some grief. I pulled him aside and warned him about this evolving dynamic. He’s a quick study and asked what he could do to win them over. I loved his inquiry. I knew at that moment he was going to be a marvelous educator. That became our focus during his tenure with me and he went on to bond with all of my malcontents.
When his university advisor came in to observe him she was blown away. She loved how Charlie interacted with my students. She pulled me aside and asked, “I love the culture in this classroom. What did you do to create this?” I sputtered an incoherent response.
After my interaction with Charlie’s advisor, I became obsessed with answering her question. That obsession became my first book, You Gotta Connect, which was published in 2014. Mark Barnes is the founder of 10 Publications. He read my first book and then reached out to me. Over the course of many interactions, he made a proposal, “I’m looking for an author that can create 100 ideas on how to engage students. Would you be willing to take on this mission?”
I jumped at this opportunity. As I dove deeper into writing Hacking Engagement, it became apparent to both Mark and me that 100 hacks in one book would be unwieldy. We decided to create 2 books each with 50 hacks. In the early fall of 2016, Hacking Engagementwas published, followed by Hacking Engagement Again in the Summer of 2017. I love these books. They became the inspiration for this podcast.
In 2019, I retired from k-12 instruction. A local university brought me on as an adjunct in the Education Department. This has been a sweet retirement gig. I get to help future educators prepare for the important undertaking of evolving the next generation. Generally students look at me as a solid source to help them with classroom management and student engagement.
Last summer, I got the writing bug again. There have simply been so many ideas that have emerged during my tenure as an Education instructor. Here’s how I describe my motivations in the Introduction of my brand new book Even More Hacking Engagement:
I still love the music from my era. I have all my favorite R&B hits from the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s on my Dad’s Party Jamz playlist on my Spotify account. My Dinner Tracks playlist contains smooth jazz favorites that provide excellent background music when we break bread with friends and family. I became even more of a Spotify disciple once I learned how to use the Enhance feature. When you activate this magnificent tool, your playlist populates with song
suggestions. These new options are based on the music preferences you’ve already expressed through your usage. I still love all my old jamz, but it’s always great to hear new choices. Each of my Spotify playlists has significantly grown thanks to Enhance. I haven’t gotten rid of the great old stuff; I’ve just added great new stuff.
Think of this book as hitting the Enhance button on your Student Engagement playlist. I wrote Hacking Engagement and Hacking Engagement Again in 2016 and 2017, respectively. I love the content in those books, and I use Hacks from each one every time I step in front of young people. Since I wrote my last Hack back in 2017, I’ve been exposed to, or I’ve created, so many impactful new ideas that I simply must share. I’m closing in on my fourth decade in teaching.
Rarely does a week go by that I don’t find myself chomping at the bit the night before class because I’m excited to give a new idea a try. I’m excited to share fifty new ideas with you in Even More Hacking Engagement:
Sign the Magna Carta p. 9
Pass the Dinner Table Test p. 41
Clear the Higher-Level Thinking Bar p. 45
Champion Self-Assessment p. 57
Fire Up the Random Name Generator p. 61
Meet Me in the Agora p. 85
Embark on a Formative Journey p. 105
Leverage a Learning Experience p. 121
Transform a Rubric p. 141
Make Assessment Engaging p. 145
Promote Brand Ambassadors p. 157
Stop Cross Examining your Students p. 161
Insert your Talking Head p. 165
Form Hook Production Teams p. 173
Move People! p. 201
These are 15 hacks that I recently featured when a friend asked me for some examples. There are 35 more. The template of this book mimics it’s older siblings:
Each hack is between 600 and 800 words.
Each hack promotes an idea that you can employ tomorrow.
There are 50 hacks in all and they do not follow a linear pattern.
This book is now available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and kindle. If you’re intrigued, visit Amazon and read some of the reviews. I’ve been pleased with what’s been written.
So that wraps up my commercial for my new book Even More Hacking Engagement. Look forward to more episodes of the Hacking Engagement Podcast.
This episode is about Constructivist Learning. Here’s a definition from the University of Buffalo:
Constructivism is the theory that says learners construct knowledge rather than just passively take in information. As people experience the world and reflect upon those experiences, they build their own representations and incorporate new information into their pre-existing knowledge (schemas).
I grew up in the pretty rolling eastern part of Ohio. We had beautiful woods behind my house. As a boy, I’d wander those woods. I couldn’t tell a maple from an oak, but I loved being in those tall trees.
In science class, my attention often wandered and my grades suffered. But the hands-on parts engaged me more. One project I actually loved and it made a lasting impression. In one of my high school science classes, I don’t even remember which, we were tasked to collect leaf specimens for a display and a presentation. For a week after football practice, I would wander the woods behind our house and collect colorful leaves. It was exhilarating. I learned a bunch about the trees that I had always appreciated but knew little about. I filtered my new knowledge through my extensive experience of walking in those woods. I developed a new understanding of how the forest functioned. As I learned about the trees I became passionate about sharing my new knowledge, my passion, and my interpretation of the natural beauty behind my house. I became curious about trees and sought more information. I still vividly remember this project and virtually nothing else about that science class. This project was assigned to me over 4 decades ago!
When I ask students to recall powerful learning experiences, they often point to something similar. It could be a capstone project or a breakthrough where they finally learned how to do something or mastered a skill. In most cases, students point to a memory where they were actively making sense of something—like the differences in the trees in the woods behind my house.
.
Now, consider every class that you’ve been assigned to teach. If you’re like me, and I’ll wager that you are, you must figure out the curriculum guide or the syllabus. It becomes like a hands-on science project and is often confusing at first. It only starts to make sense once you implement your spin informed by your perspective. When I teach a new class, my lessons generally end up looking quite different from whoever taught the class previously. Of course, in the opinion of your humble narrator, my version of the class is always superior.
The process that I just described is Constructivist Learning. All learners, including teachers preparing to teach a class, construct meaning from their own perspective. This may lead to diverse understanding and creations, but that’s okay. We educators should embrace this variety.
On the other hand, I often ask my students, “How would you do if you had to retake last semester’s final exams?” Most grimace and predict that they wouldn’t do well. This is depressing. It points to the reality that many educators assess a lot of short-term memory. I’m not trying to come off as superior. I’ve done my share of it too. However, such learning events don’t make much of an impression.
And this dear listener is where Kennedy Borcoman makes a dramatic appearance.
Kennedy is studying to be an elementary teacher and she’s going to be a great one. She was in my Education Technology class last summer and endorses my teaching style’s constructivist nature. We’re going to discuss this approach.
What you can do Tomorrow:
Create a hands-on learning experience in the unit you’re studying.
Seek to challenge students to do something outside of class where they can utilize their world, or their experiences.
Constructivist learning is highly engaging and can make a lasting impact.
Summer vacation is getting long in the tooth. A number of years ago, I would’ve been staring down the calendar because football practice starts next week in Ohio. It’s sad to see summer wane, but it is what we do for a living. And, even though it’s hard to go back, as soon as you step in front of those students—it just feels right.
Today, I’m going to give you a magnificent idea for the first day of school. I’m teaching a brand new class this fall. It’s EDUC 313 Curriculum and Design. I’m determined to engage my 3rd and 4th year students right out of the chutes. I’m also determined to demonstrate to them how they can start creating an outstanding learning environment once they become the teachers in the very near future. I want to read from the Ohio Teacher Evaluation Rubric. This is under the domain Classroom Environment. To score accomplished on the rubric, you had to do the following:
The teacher and students have collaboratively established consistent use of routines, procedures and transitions that are effective in maximizing instructional time. On-task behavior is evident and ensured by students. Students initiate responsibility for effective operation of the classroom.
I think this is a great objective. Congratulations Ohio. I’m going to certainly attempt to do that starting on Day 1. I’m going to draw inspiration from the British Isles and 807 years ago. The Magna Carta was signed by King John in 1215. By doing so, he became a monarch whose power was limited. He agreed to certain demands of his nobles in the process. Since then, the United Kingdom has been a beacon of good government. I had a pretty rugged Biology teacher in high school. On the first day, he informed us that the class was not a democracy and he was a benevolent dictator. Certainly, there’s a middle ground. I’m guessing that Magna Carta Jigsaw lesson will inspire you!
Create rational sides to classroom procedures dilemmas.
Formulate your cohorts based on the number of dilemmas.
Create your Google slides and your Magna Carta Google Form.
Be prepared to collaborate with dissenting students.
Teacher evaluation rubrics can be intimidating. But maybe, you can embrace various aspects of these rubrics throughout the year. There’s the potential that by embracing the rubric, not just during evaluation period, could significantly enhance the learning experience for your students. [spreaker type=player resource=”episode_id=50646018″ width=”100%” height=”200px” theme=”light” playlist=”false” playlist-continuous=”false” chapters-image=”true” episode-image-position=”right” hide-logo=”false” hide-likes=”false” hide-comments=”false” hide-sharing=”false” hide-download=”true”]
Liz Jorgensen is an all star high school English teacher from Wisconsin. Her brand new book Hacking Student Learning Habits just hit Amazon’s virtual shelves. I’m confident that you’ll be inspired to check out this book after listening to this interview. Liz articulates how she utilizes empathy to inspire learning. We also talk a lot about assessment—hence the title of this podcast episode. What I particularly love about Liz is that she’s not self-promotional. She supplies oodles of examples of inspirational tactics from various subjects and grade levels.
You’ll hear us discuss:
why she decided to write the book
her ideas on assessment
how to help students thrive
inspiring intrinsic motivation
student feedback
authentic purpose
growth mindset
Just maybe, Liz has an idea that’ll transform your classroom. So sit back and absorb and consider.
What you can do Tomorrow:
Take one idea from this interview and implement it tomorrow.
Check out Liz’s book on Amazon.
As teachers, we often promote that our students assume a growth mindset. Let’s practice what we preach. Take one of Liz’s ideas and grow as an educator.
It’s sad to hear reports of so many educators becoming discouraged. Some are considering leaving the profession. If that’s you, or you have a friend or colleague who’s struggling, you selected the right podcast.
In the last episode I interviewed Jim Mahoney and we addressed this theme of the teacher exodus. I feel so passionately about this topic that I decided to dedicate an entire episode to it and I have the perfect guest.
Michale Brilla made a move from classroom instruction to technology coach in 2019. Last year, he was given the option to stay in that role or return to the classroom. He obviously chose the latter and this episode is why he opted to return, everything he missed in exile, and what his triumphant renaissance has been like. This is an important episode. Please consider Michael’s compelling message as you go through your evaluation.
What you can do Tomorrow:
If you’re an educator trying to figure out whether you should stay in the classroom, you’ve probably done a lot of evaluation. But, how much have you interviewed others who know you? Make certain to interrogate family, friends, colleagues, administrators, and even trusted students. Ask them what they think of you retiring and then be prepared to listen. You may learn interesting things about yourself.
Please remember that in a long teaching career that you are going to have dry spells. Everyone goes through this. Please just make these important decisions objectively.
It’s heartbreaking to hear about all of the talented educators who are strongly considering cashing in their chips and exiting the classroom. This is not a good thing. Their students need them and quitting may not be the right move for discouraged educators. I can say this with confidence because I vamoosed from education after my 7th year. I was fortunate to be able to hightail it back into the classroom after just a 6 month hiatus. If you quit now, you may never return even if you want to.
A few years after my rather intense exile. I had the opportunity to hear Jim Mahoney speak at a professional development. I was excited to hear him because he was the superintendent at my home school. I hadn’t met him yet, but my mom and dad knew him and they liked him.
2 sentences into Jim Mahoney’s presentation, I was hooked. This guy was engaging, funny, and highly relevant. I vividly remember one animated part of his presentation when he was talking about teacher frustration. He clenched his fists, scrunched his face, and then he empathized. As he was clenching and scrunching, he said the following:
When you folks (we were an audience of k12 teachers) start wondering, Why do I keep doing this?
The rest of his presentation was a powerful answer to this rhetorical question. It was a pure shot of educational areniline. I left that auditorium thinking, Man, I’m glad I’m back in the classroom. I’m not leaving again till retirement.
Jim and I later connected. We catch up with one another at least annually. I love the guy and I’m not alone. Jim Mahoney is education royalty in Ohio. His resume is as impressive as it is diverse. But that’s not why I invited him on this show. Jim just authored a book called To Lead is to Teach. If you, or anyone you know, are considering leaving the classroom, this book will probably give you hope and will at least give you pause. If you’re not considering leaving, read it anyway and be inspired and feel great about being part of this magical calling.
It’s been a while since I published an episode. There’s a reason for that. I’ve been busy developing a new podcast. The Retired Teacher Coach Podcast debuted in the last week of 2021. It’s based on my coaching practice. My elevator pitch for my coaching goes as follows:
I help retired educators make awesome health and lifestyle choices.
While my niche is retired educators, I work with clients that are not educators and clients who are not retired. Each episode of my new show follows a template similar to the Hacking Engagement Podcast. I’ll identify a problem and offer solutions.
Please don’t worry about the Hacking Engagement Podcast. It’s not ending. There’ll be more episodes in the future.
But for today I wanted to share an episode of my new podcast. This episode has been very well received and I’ll wager that it’ll inspire you regardless of your age or your occupation status.
If you like what you hear, please subscribe to The Retired Teacher Coach Podcast on Apple, Google, or Spotify. [spreaker type=player resource=”episode_id=48132334″ width=”100%” height=”200px” theme=”light” playlist=”false” playlist-continuous=”false” chapters-image=”true” episode-image-position=”right” hide-logo=”false” hide-likes=”false” hide-comments=”false” hide-sharing=”false” hide-download=”true”]
One of my passions since the semi-return to normal instruction in hopefully the receding wake of COVID, is to retain successful aspects of virtual instruction and then to include them in-person instruction. I’ve heard a lot of students and instructors say, “I never want to be on another Zoom call again.” Well, that’s not realistic. There were aspects of virtual instruction that facilitated learning. We need to keep those.
In this episode, four powerful virtual tactics will be explored. Granted, each of these ideas is much older than the pandemic and had been utilized extensively in in-person instruction, but they were particularly well-suited to virtual instruction and they should absolutely be included now in face-to-face learning. Here are the four tactics:
the use of a virtual interactive syllabus
This PDF virtual syllabus was created through LucidChart
populating the virtual syllabus with highly interactive HyperDocs
incorporating higher level thinking prompts
utilizing landing pads where students can submit work and then collaborate
To help me explore these ideas, I conscripted Ethan Miller—a primary source. Ethan is an education major at Muskingum University. He’s been in a class I taught in-person and one that I taught virtually. He’s passionate about how much better in-person instruction is, but he’s coming around to virtual learning’s potential. He’s the perfect guest for this episode and he’s going to be a magnificent teacher.
Many educators want to ditch any tactic that reminds them of virtual instruction and learning during COVID.
The Solution:
Evaluate what was successful during COVID instruction and then incorporate it into in-person instruction.
What you can do Tomorrow:
Take an inventory of successful tactics that you employed during virtual instruction.
Phase in at least one of these tactics next week.
Explore creating an interactive syllabus with LucidChart.
Explore creating a higher level thinking prompt via HyperDocs.
During COVID we all had to improvise. Some of what we did was awesome. Let’s evolve as educators and incorporate some of these innovative ideas into our in-person instruction.
