Student Motivation: What Is Wrong With Education!

Working as an educator for the past 30 years, as a teacher, counselor and school psychologist a major interest of mine has always been student motivation. I have had the opportunity to have worked with students from the pre-Kindergarten to twelfth grade level in school systems in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. I have been in inner city, poverty-stricken districts and affluent districts. Which means I have seen students with significant social-economic disadvantages succeed, and ones that had "everything" going for them fail.

Personally, I fit into the first category. My parents divorced when I was 2 years old, my mother was a waitress that never finished High School and my stepfather who raised me (after age 7) never went to High School. My older brother quit school in the 10th grade. No one in my family attended college so I had very little family influence to pursue any academic goals. I remember as a child my stepfather telling me to get "C's" in school. "C's are good," he would say. Perhaps, because he never even achieved that when he was in school. Of course, this was when I was repeating the first grade so he was trying to get me to do better at the time. I muddled through elementary school and do not believe I started to get any career interests until Middle School. There I began taking an interest in science. It was exciting times in science and technology in the late 60's with the moon landing, Star Trek on TV, and Jacques Cousteau exploring the ocean and I was caught up in it.

However, I still had no clue on what it would take to succeed at something in life. Fortunately, High School sports changed that. I had a freshman football coach that didn't accept excuses, and gradually it began to sink in that if you were to get anywhere in life you had to apply effort. I also started to get the idea that if other kids could go to college and have a good career, why couldn't I? I was just as good as them. I began applying effort to my academics as well and did go to a four-year college after high school pursuing my interest in science.

As a teacher I was always very aware of how my background related to many of my students. With the students that struggled in school, the ones that had behavior issues and applied little effort to their academics, my first question to them was always, "What do you want to do after high school?" Unfortunately, most of these students had little idea of what they wanted to do. They had no realistic career ambition. Sure a lot of students up to 9th or 10th grade would say they want to be in professional sports for a career, but again few had any idea of what that would require. They were clueless to the fact that most professional athletes are recruited out of good colleges and that passing their classes is a requirement in high school in order to be on a school team.

I have learned that the key to student motivation is a career goal. A case I witness that exemplified this was a student I had in middle and high school. "Julie" was a severely behaviorally disoriented student up through the eighth grade. She would be noncompliant with teacher requests, would be augmentative all the time and swear at teachers and staff in most of her interactions. However, in the 9th grade a light went off within her. She decided she wanted to be a veterinarian and started to take school seriously. Her behavior problems disappeared and she went from a D-F student in a special education class to an A-B student in a mainstream class, all because she now had a goal in life!

Unfortunately, many students learn this much later in life. They are ten years out of high school, perhaps not having a high school diploma and they can't stand their hourly paid position in a fast food restaurant or retail store. The most common statement I have heard from "drop-out" alumni is, "I wish I had done better in school." Or, "I wish I had taken school seriously." I have never heard, "I am proud that I failed in school."

So, what is wrong with education? We are not motivating our students or providing them with enough realistic career choices.

Not every student is going to go to a four-year college, or, should. The majority of four-year college graduates today do not find work in their majors and have huge college debts to pay upon graduation. I obviously believe in education, as I became a teacher and psychologist, however, my experience in inner city schools has taught me that 90 percent of the students do not go to or finish a four-year degree. Yet, 90 percent of the high school curriculum and emphasis is on going to a four-year college! This creates a huge educational disconnect among many students that increases behavior problems and lack of student motivation. Sure, if we continually work on student's self-esteem issues and expose them to a number of professional career role-models that could increase the likelihood of them attending a four-year college. But, again that will not work for the majority of inner city children as they have too much negative peer and family pressures around them.

I believe education needs to be about offering choices to students based on where they are. Students do need to have realistic career options after high school. For the students that find learning difficult, that can be identified before middle school, more emphasis should be placed on vocational options. Middle and high school programs should offer vocational career exposure in addition to their mainstream academics. Career education needs to be emphasized at all grade levels (Kindergarten on up) letting students know what it takes and the difference in being (for example) a carpenter, builder, architect or engineer. Most of our public high schools are failing because they are not meeting student's needs. Public high schools, particularly in urban districts, need to be vocational centers, teaching students real-world skills that can lead them to careers that will give them higher standards of living. I have three brothers that never went to college. One is a carpenter, one is a plumber, and one is a police officer, all have as good a standard of living as I do with my B.S., two masters and PH.D degrees.

Depending upon the school district, high schools should still offer college prep programs, for that top ten to twenty percent that are headed in that direction. However, I believe the charter schools are more equipped to get their students ready for four-year college programs. They require parent involvement and continued student performance in order to be in the school. In charter schools students have to pass their classes, be in class and not be behavior problems, or they are asked to leave. This is why charter schools will always outperform public schools. I realize there are always exceptions, I'm aware of some outstanding high schools across the country, however, they often adopt a charter school mentality in order to succeed.

Teachers at all levels need to continually talk about career options and what it takes to achieve them. I have had countless high school students over the years that had no idea that you had to go to college to be certain profession, or what it takes to get into a four-year college. Often they find out in their senior year and it's too late. I have a nephew, who has an above average IQ that refused to do homework in high school. His grades reflected that decision. Reality hit him the end of his senior year when he couldn't get into the college he wanted.

Teachers can have a huge impact on student motivation in so many ways! They of course, can be excellent role-models in education, teach and inspire students in career education, but they can, and often provide students with a positive and caring adult in their student's life. When a teacher conveys the attitude that they care about their students and where they are going in life they can help a student become motivated to succeed. In my crisis intervention trainings with school staff I always ended with my favorite quote:

"Students don't care how much you know; until they know how much you care!"

My second career interest in life was in psychology because of my 11th grade psychology teacher. In many ways a positive and caring teacher can have more impact on a student's success than a parent.
What is wrong with education? In this country is our public educational system meeting the needs of the majority of the students? Or, is it letting 80 percent of our students down by not motivating them to pursue some form of postsecondary education and training because of antiquated notions that all students need to go to a four-year college? In order to make education viable today it needs to motivate students and help them get a career that they are interested in and suited for. This is how we can motivate our children and create a skilled workforce at all levels. This is how we motivate students and change education!

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Flawless Tree Felling Education - Seeking Help of the Right Institution

Tree care and hardwood felling jobs are pretty difficult and need thorough knowledge and skills. Lack of proper know-how and techniques can result in disaster, both for you and your property. For proper training and guidance, consider visiting a proper tree care training center. Whether you must fell trees regularly or irregularly, there's always a proper course for you.

Today, there are many courses, exclusively planned to educate and train members in advanced tree felling techniques and practices. With customized hands-on training programs, almost anybody can handle these tasks to perfection. To meet your specific needs, the professional courses include topics like safety, efficiency and responsibility.

These days, tree surgery is a popular profession or line of work. After all, there are only few jobs that entail involvement of Nature. Besides being passionate about your work, you must have some other qualities as well. Being physically fit and well-informed about tress is highly essential. So, consider taking professional classes in forestry and horticulture. Climbing trees is a risky venture and you must know the proper tool usage techniques to complete the task to finesse.

Courses in the industry will train you on the different types of tree species, their stages of growth and their diseases as well. They'll also teach the right techniques for planting saplings, nurturing them and bringing them up with care. Apart from these, you'll also know about the safety of electrical wires, both for overhead and underground. You'll also know about the safety of homes and other structures.

Once you know the right tools usage techniques, you can climb trees safely and do the needed tasks. Tree felling is a tough job, calling for a lot of practice and training to master it. However, the result is truly worth it. Besides, there's the signature tool of this profession - the chainsaw. In order to handle these heavy tools, one needs proper training and work permit.

As you develop your skills, you'll know the usage techniques of other tree care tools as well. This may involve a stump grinder, along with a raised platform for pruning branches on all trees. For cutting down big trees, you can't do everything at one go. Rather, you need the right equipment for cutting it down into sections. One more thing that you need for becoming a tree surgeon is the first aid training. Many insurance agencies ask for these certifications. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and enroll in a tree care training institute.

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5 Rules to Write Effectively for Magazine Editors and Clients

A good freelance writer should acquire new writing skills to guarantee a long term success in this field. It is also imperative to understand that given these all essential qualities, a freelance writer must write effectively in various writing tasks. As every task is different and require different solution. Let us understand it from the example:

Writing a research paper uses entirely different tools than writing an advertising copy for promoting sales of a product. The latter requires you to give information about benefits you can derive from the product, with an attracting and interesting layout, minimal text, use of graphics, including tactics to endorse customers to take action to buy the advertised product. While the former an in-depth research paper which requires an in-depth knowledge on the topic of interest. An extensive research is required to support your facts and attain reliability. Target audience may vary from students, to scientists, to big organizations. Hence the writing needs of both these jobs are entirely different.

Thus it is now evident that the secret to effective writing requires an organized effort. In other words, you should find out, what are you writing about? Who are you writing to? Why are you writing?

Let's explore a step by step procedure that will help us identify various writing needs specific to our job and to develop quality writing.

Process to Develop Quality Writing

As of now you are well aware of the importance of writing a quality article. But the question is how? How can we develop a quality article? There are no hard and fast rules for freelancer writers, as every job is different from the previous but we can off course follow a proper procedure to write a quality article. Let's see a step by step procedure of effectively developing quality content.

1) Understand the basic need of the job:

The first and foremost step before starting to write anything is to know the purpose. You should be well aware of the purpose of the job and your clients' expectations from you. Also as freelance writing is very vast, you should know the type of article you are required to prepare. For example writing a research paper will entirely be different from writing an advertisement as discussed in the example above.

2) Know your audience:

Your audience is your end users and the success of your job depends on their viewership. It is crucial to know about your audience and their interests.

3) Brainstorm and develop a manuscript:

Before starting to write anything it is always advisable to develop an outline and format of your copy.

4) Create a quality content:

A great deal of hard work and thinking is required to generate a piece of good quality content. You should choose your words carefully. Express your ideas with elegance, while being direct and persuasive. Some tasks require you to call for action for example feedback, calling to place an order etc. so customize your text according to the specialized need of your task.

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8 Ways to Debunk Wellness and Health Promotion Research Papers

I just read a few workplace wellness and health promotion research papers. I don't know why I do this. It gives me a splitting headache. Some wellness vendors obnoxiously wave the papers in your face like they're the 10 Commandments. "OK, OK, I'll read the things."

In my high school days (not too long ago), I made a smart-ass comment to the physical education teacher (a former pro football player). I don't advise doing that for amateur smart asses by the way. Anyway, he made me stay after school and write a 1,000-word essay on "the social life of a ping-pong ball." In the middle of the essay I wrote, "This is a bunch of (!%*#." I gave him the paper, was heading to the door, and he said, "Connors, next time don't bury the headline in the middle of the paper."

That's what a lot of these research papers do - they bury the "you know what" in the middle.

You've got to read the whole boring mass of junk carefully.

Here are my "Crazy 8s" − just a small example of what runs through my bio-fueled, C+ grade brain when I read these things.

1. A commercial vendor did the research: Come on, man! Are you kidding me? I don't give any credibility to anything posing as objective research when the investigator has a direct economic bias. Even if the conclusions are correct, you'd have to corroborate those findings with more objective research to trust it. I am all for case studies and white papers, etc. That information doesn't pose as hard science, and can often be helpful. Vendor-produced scientific research on their own programs is "contaminated." As in useless. And scientific journal editors would be well advised not to publish that nonsense. I've still got that paper on the social life of a ping-pong ball if they're hard up for some good content.

2. Extrapolates national health statistics: For example, xx% of the U.S. population is overweight, thus we did this study on XYZ population. But XYZ population may only have 2,000 people in it. I am not able to make the connection. It's like someone coming to your front door and saying, "30% of the U.S. population is overweight, but we can get your family to ideal weight." In other words, the claim is the vendors can create a competitive advantage by making your population healthier (and more productive) than the average, and probably the competition. If someone could actually do this, it would eventually be scaled up, and the vendor would rival Google in growth. The workplace wellness industry is tiny because we haven't done anything in 30 years that is scalable.

3. Conclude consistency with national health statistics: After spending thousands of dollars studying the health status of a workplace population, the researchers say the populations' collective health status mirrored national health statistics for this demographic. Ya think? You can ballpark the health status of almost any workplace population by just knowing the general age, gender mix, and type of industry. It ain't science, but I'll bet you can come within a few percent of their actual, collective health risk, in about 10 minutes. I grew up around insurance actuaries and underwriters (also athletes, entrepreneurs, revolutionaries, transients, dogs, comedians, and dreamers), and I can assure you they're not using these wellness research papers to evaluate their risk in insuring a population. They're using demographics, national-health statistics, and health-claims experience (which they know wellness programs have no material effect upon).

4. Lack of long-range outcomes: We never know what happens to the people who allegedly improved their health status. The researchers talk about those who improved over a short time period, but I wonder how they're doing now? Guess what I think? The population reverts back to the average national-health statistic for their group. The bio-medical, health-screening model of wellness is forever going to be stuck "reverting back to the norm." It's a business model that has us all swimming upstream. It's the wrong paradigm, and it's not sustainable. So all we ever read about is the group of people who improved something for a short time. Nobody has broken out into the open fields of sustainability.

5. Health risk as a measurable factor: I do think the brighter bulbs in our business are getting away from claiming healthcare savings from wellness programs. But we're still reading a lot about lowering a group's health risks. Even if that is happening, it's short term. And really, so what? We know wellness does not lower healthcare costs. If it did, it would be a $20-billion-per-year business instead of the $2-billion-per-year business it is. So what does reducing health risk in a working population actually do? Nothing significant enough to support the effort.

6. BMI and weight loss: When these measures are mentioned as a component in a wellness research paper a little red alarm should go off in your head. Take 15 minutes and dive into the history of the BMI metric. It's not a valid tool for determining population risk based on weight. And workplace weight-loss programs don't work over the long term. There is not a single valid example of one sustaining ideal weight of participants in a working population. Weight is a symptom. An individual is much better trying to experience improved health on a holistic level. A person can be heavy and still be healthy, and even physically fit. I acknowledge the weight problems, on the extremes, are vexing. However, diseases like anorexia and morbid obesity are better addressed as mental-health issues than biometric issues. The idea of focusing on weight loss as a workplace-program goal is a non-sequitur to improving a population's health.

7. Use of extrinsic incentives: Some research is about using incentives; some include a mention of it as a program component; and others bury the fact incentives were used to drive participation. But if rewards or punishments were used to enhance participation in wellness programs, the research is invalid in my mind. Once extrinsic incentives are removed the population reverts to the norm. There is not one example of extrinsic incentives improving long-term health outcomes. And there is not one bit of scientific evidence that extrinsic incentives can somehow be morphed into an intrinsic-incentive approach. I don't think there is ever going to be either. Extrinsic incentives actually harm intrinsic motivation, and are destroying the credibility of workplace wellness.

8. Unintended consequences: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Stuff happens. One thing missing in the research on wellness is how much we have increased cost, inconvenience, and even suffering by exposing people to misdiagnosis, over diagnosis, medical errors, and unnecessary treatments. As we screen millions of people for disease we expose them to all the inherent risk of the healthcare system. It's impossible that they have all completely avoided experiencing these negative consequences. But find me one calculation or estimate of this cost. It's never calculated. It's possible that if this cost were figured into wellness programs' biomedical screening ROI analysis, it would be a deal killer for the whole biometric screening model.

The kind of research I'd enjoy reading and learning from would get at these 8 questions:

1. How do we prepare great leaders to drive high-performance organizations?

2. What is the role of autonomy in job satisfaction and risk taking at the employee level?

3. How do we define and achieve great visions, which transcend self?

4. How do we build and maintain joy in our work?

5. How do we attract, develop, and grow with people we want and need to work with?

6. How do we master the art of storytelling to develop brand, culture, and expectations?

7. How do we build meaningful relationships with all stakeholders including employees (and their families), the community, investors, suppliers, the media, and customers?

8. How can we achieve a meaningful balance between work life and home life?

Before people can be healthy, they've got to find their work enjoyable and rewarding. And the workplace itself needs to be healthful before that can happen. I suspect much of helping people improve their individual health would fall under 7 and 8 above. First, by tying employees into the activities of the surrounding community and by inviting the community activities into the workplace. Second, by improving our balance of work life and home life, which is probably the ultimate form of sustainability for a healthy soul.

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Pre-Written Love Letters - 3 "Obvious" Reasons You Should You Use Them

Pre-written love letters are excellent solutions when you are at a loss for words. Putting thoughts to paper can be difficult a lot of the time. We actually put off writing what's in our heart because of the struggle to find the right words. These are the perfect templates to personalize and modify to the uniqueness of your relationship.

What's great about pre-written love letters is they're already written by people who have articulately put pen to paper to communicate authentic emotion. A prewritten romantic letter can cover varying stages of relationship to help you achieve the results you want, albeit to become more than friends, get through troubling times, enhance your sex life, win back an ex or capture the attention of the love of your dreams... all without writing a single word, if you choose not to.

So if you're still not convinced of the benefits, then here are...

3 "Obvious" Reasons You Should Use Pre-written Love Letters

1. Personalization

The advantage of a pre-written love letter is that it can be edited and personalized to your heart's content. Many times you find one that says exactly what you want to say. You know the saying - you took the words right out of my mouth - that is exactly the purpose of a prewritten romantic letter. They provide you with the perfect words and expressions without any emotional writer's block.

Pre-written letters offer the convenience of editability and can be easily customized for your situation. Frequently, you will spot one that eloquently speaks the desires of your heart. Imagine when you've read something that says exactly how you feel, that's the need romantic letters that are prewritten fulfills. They all offer well thought-out paragraphs designed to enrapture and charm, while avoiding the anguish of thinking of the "right" words to say.

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Pre-written love letters allow you the advantage of using the perfect words of a wordsmith while avoiding the stress of experiencing your own writer's block. Ironically, they tend to activate creativity that causes you to elaborate further on what has been provided. Sometimes all you may need to do is re-write what's already provided and just add a special fragrance. Make a point of personalizing your letter by handwriting it yourself, it displays added mindfulness.

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Expressing our inner-most thoughts and feelings can cause many of us to panic. Even if we are able to crank out one beautifully expressive romantic letter, coming up with another can be a real problem. Love letters that are prewritten can be the perfect solution.

The fantastic element of pre-written love letters are the benefit of carefully chosen words already organized in a way to articulate maximum expression. Prewritten letters offer a means of relaying feelings that are often hard to articulate. It is a beneficial option that can be implemented immediately without you having to write a word.

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How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay in Less Than 30 Minutes

An assignment to write a 5 paragraph essay may seem challenging at first, but when broken down into pieces, it is much easier and should be fun and enjoyable. Otherwise, the outcome may be not be what you, your teacher or your parents desired, such as poor grades, anxiety and frustration. Listed here are 4 great tips on how to organize and write a 5 paragraph essays in less than 30 minutes.

1. Essay structure

It is important to have the correct structure for your essay to help organize your thoughts and ideas, and because doing so helps prevent writing off topic or wasting time. Failing to have the correct essay structure can certainly cause you confusion and will make the process seem more difficult. The 5 paragraph structure consists of an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and conclusion.

2. Introduction

The introduction must tell your reader about the topic, but it must also have an attention grabbing sentence, or hook, to get the reader interested. This is usually about something difficult or challenging. Once you form the attention grabbing sentence, then you are ready for your thesis sentence, which simply states what you are about to tell your reader. The thesis sentence is the last sentence in the introduction. Now you will want to think of 3 point, ideas or experiences related to your thesis statement.

3. Body Paragraphs

Next, when writing a 5 paragraph essay, you must have three (3) paragraphs in the body of the essay. In each paragraph explain in detail one of the three ideas or experiences related to your thesis statement. This structure helps keep the essay on topic and interesting for your reader.

4. Conclusion

The conclusion is the simplest paragraph when writing a 5 paragraph essay. The last sentence in your introduction paragraph becomes the first sentence in your conclusion paragraph. The next sentence includes your three points or ideas. Finally, you have the concluding sentence that wraps is all up.

Listed above are 4 great tips on how to organize and write a 5 paragraph essay. The introduction, body and conclusion are the essential elements of any 5 paragraph essay. Using the strategies above, you will avoid confusion and frustration and achieve the grades you desire.

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ACT Prep Course and College Essay Help For a Successful Career

It is true that all the students looking for a higher education are under terrible pressure. They have to select the appropriate career option well in advance so that they get proper training and are well prepared. There are Tests such as SAT and ACT which help students determine the course which they can take up. It will help them get admission in good colleges. ACT tests open up more options for the students in various educational fields. ACT test was originally known as American College Testing Program. Once a student takes up this test, he/she will be clear in terms of education.

An ACT Prep Course helps a student prepare thoroughly for the test. It is crucial for a student to understand the necessity of ACT Prep Course as taking up this course will help students clear the test smoothly. This testing program help the student decide the college which they can study in. Enrolling for ACT Prep Course would be beneficial for all the students.

Some colleges judge the capabilities of the students based on the score of ACT test. If the students score well in this test they can get admissions in renowned educational institutions. The students can take their own decisions and select their favorite stream and come up with flying colors. Students who have appeared for ACT test are always given preference over other students. This is because they come from various backgrounds. ACT Prep Course will give exposure to the students who want to appear for this test and help them get good grades.

ACT scores has a great impact on the student's education as with good grades, and one can go for an affordable education. If the scores are higher, the financial burden decreases. This will decrease both from student and parents mind. If the student really wants to improve his/her option, then enrolling for ACT Prep Course would be the most right thing to do.

Apart from this, there are educational solutions which offer College essay help. With College essay help, parents as well as students get guidance for choosing the right career. Such educational solutions help you score well in writing a great college admission essay test. They conduct online aptitude test in order to access the student.

This also helps them moderate, which stream the student should take up. They have dedicated counselors who make the students understand take up the appropriate course. They also direct the students focus towards professional career.

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