Unexpected Gifts: Discovering and Nurturing the Strengths in Every Child

According to Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, we now live in a “flat world” where technology has broken down the borders and we can literally travel through time and distance. It is a world where geography and language differences no longer are insurmountable barriers to communication.

With the “flattening” of our world, parents and educators are now asking the same questions: What will it would take to effectively prepare today’s students to be global citizens in a “flat world?”

Yesterday, I shared coffee and conversation with Mr. Venkatesh Koravadi and Dr. Krishna Jayaraman and learned about one school, located in Bangalore, India, that is off to good start to become a global education model. Mr. Koravadi is the Managing Director of TREAMIS World School and Dr. Jayaraman is a biotech executive and promoter of TREAMIS.

TREAMIS World School opened almost a year ago and established its mission as fostering independent thinking and self-discipline. Along with academics, art, music and sports, TREAMIS teaches the universal values of teamwork, respect, responsibility, ethics, etiquette and service. You can learn more about TREAMIS World School by clicking on the link in the blogroll.

With connections to Lake Forest Academy and Morgan Park Academy and plans for technology-based collaborative projects for the students here and in India, TREAMIS World School has established itself already as a leader pursuing global learning for its students.

It’s amazing to contemplate what might happen if every school in every country had such a focus on universal values, a well-rounded curriculum designed for the whole child, implementation of best practices for maximum student achievement and the inclusion of global learning opportunities. Perhaps, we would be raising students who would be truly equipped with the skills to live in peace, serve others, create, innovate and work productively.

Without a doubt, the students at TREAMIS World School and others with a similar focus will be ready for global citizenship and ready to succeed and compete in a “flat world.” How about the students in your school? Will they be ready?

As a parent, your child’s first and most important teacher, have you ever wondered if there was one program that could teach relationship skills to children and adults and promote happiness and success at the same time?

Certainly in our world of today, this is a question I know many parents and teachers and professionals in the mental health field have asked. Especially since 9/11 and Columbine, there has been a focus on finding a way to promote peace in our homes, schools and the world.

As a classroom teacher, I emphasized to my students that peace began in each person’s heart. I told my students that each of us could then model the image of peace to those we met.

Yet realistically I knew that it wasn’t that simple and that specific skills and ways of thinking had to be taught and demonstrated before a peaceful home, classroom and world became possible.

Just how these skills could be effectively taught became clearer to me last year when I was invited to be part of the planning and implementation of a series of workshop for parents. It was then that I learned about the Conscious Discipline program by Becky Bailey,
http://www.beckybailey.com/. This unique program captures the energy of “daily conflict to teach character development, conflict resolution, social skills and self-control.”

Since November of 2007, I have participated in two parent workshops based on the Conscious Discipline program. During these workshops I had the chance to talk with youth leaders who have gone through the workshop training and applied the skills to their work. They shared their stories of success and I could tell that this program was making a difference for them and for the children and families they served.

On a more personal level, I have seen how effective the skills from this program are in my own life and personal relationships. I encourage you to check out the website in the blogroll and discover for yourself the potential of Conscious Discipline. You will be encouraged and amazed at the changes you will see in yourself and your children once you have practiced the skills and tried them out.

Are you looking for a way to transform teaching and learning? Would like to capture the imagination and attention of your children in your classroom or those in your home? Then you might want to explore how mobile technology solutions can meet the learning needs of today’s diverse student population.

That’s exactly what happened to me when I collaborated to write a grant for Palm IIIc handheld computers in 2001. I used these mobile computers in my classroom for three years and also utilized the school’s AlphaSmarts, portable laptop alternatives, for four years. It was amazing to see how many of my students approached learning in a more engaged manner when they were offered the options of mobile technology tools like the Palms and the AlphaSmarts and could get away from paper and pencil and even the desktop computers.

Now seven years later, students are even more experienced and at home with mobile devices than they were when I used mobile computers with my third graders. With the number of phones and iPods now becoming more commonplace possessions among younger students, mobile computers offer the promise of transforming our schools in ways we could not have dreamed possible when most of us were in college.

Just like the OLPC initiative, mobile computers are designed to create a new learning environment and not just function as an additional tool in the classroom. In this new learning environment, the focus is on the individual student constructing his/her own knowledge. By utilizing specially designed software, teachers are able to “mobilize” the curriculum and move students away from paper and pencil.

Many of the software applications available today for mobile computers have been developed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at the Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education (HI-CE) under the direction of Dr. Elliot Soloway, an Arthur F. Thurnau professor in three departments at Michigan and a leader in the field of mobile computers. He and Dr. Cathleen Norris, Regents Professor at University of North Texas co-founded GoKnow, Inc which provides mobile computer software and professional development training for teachers and administrators.

To listen to Dr. Soloway and see these mobile computers in action, check out the link from YouTube, Mobile Computers in the Classroom, listed in the blogroll on the right. I encourage you to visit the website of GoKnow, Inc., which is also listed in the blogroll. There is no doubt in my mind that you will be just as captivated about the possibilities for mobile computers in the classroom as I was. Let me know what you think and if you are using them right now in your school.