School is out at last And I'm so glad I passed (Ry Cooder)

Term 4 has arrived and that's usually a combination of the manic and a blur. Second week now of eight. And that's almost gone.

For the students, Term 4 is all about sitting exams. Especially so in the Year of Covid-19 disruptions. First some practice ones and then the external NCEA high stakes ones.

I'd like to put Mr Exam on trial.

All up students will be on exam leave for 27 out of the term's 38 days. 

So, of those 27 days some revision will be going on and maybe some learning but it will be more along the lines of how-do-I-get-prepared-for-passing-exams?

Funnily enough though - after leaving school there are no exams for our students. So we are, in effect, training them to do something they never have to do again.

Your witness...

The moment of truth is right at hand (The Band)

Great article on Edutopia by Chris Kubic about asking a key question that probes for deeper meaning.

I'm going to keep this one in mind.

Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy (John Denver)

 

An organisation is able to retain talent only if it provides good opportunities for those outstanding workers to unleash their potential (Hsing Yun)

  

Don't rush, but don't wait (James Clear)

Photo by Johen Redman on Unsplash

Today's message comes from James Clear, who makes a distinction between speed and rushing (I can't begin to tell you how many times I heard the phrase 'more haste, less speed' when I was growing up!) 

But anyway - over to James:

There is a difference between moving fast and rushing.

You can move fast and be thoughtful. When you rush, you sacrifice thoughtfulness.

Conversely, when you are thoughtful but not moving fast, you are overthinking it. Procrastination in disguise.

Don’t rush, but don’t wait.

Take what I say in a different way and it's easy to say that this is all confusion (Yes)

See the big picture (like Ansel Adams)

It's a two week study break from school for us lucky enough to live in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

That means a couple of quick holiday posts in Baggy Trousers along the way as there are always jobs and projects to take care of at home during that time.

While working to get 90% of the population immunised, NZ continues to pursue an elimination strategy with the Covid-19 pandemic and the Delta strain. It's worth noting that one Covid infected guy has resulted in infections climbing to well over 1,000 in Auckland, so this is a good strategy to my mind.

Who knows what state we'll be in by the end of this study break. Hopefully more kiwis get the jab (more on this in Wozza's Place's next post).

We live with the prospect of lockdowns if there are outbreaks before we meet that 90% target so I asked my staff to take everything with them for the study break. Another full lockdown is a distinct possibility.

In the meantime, here's some reading to provoke some thoughts. It's a piece that intrigued me recently.

The article centres on reading habits to retire, and some better strategies to try. Enjoy! 

Try imagining a place where it’s always safe and warm (Bob Dylan)

Photo by Marcos Luiz Photograph on Unsplash

Recently, a global survey by OneSchool Global, the organisation I belong to, asked 1,000 community business owners what attributes they were looking for in employees and the usual suspects came to the fore:

1. Positive Attitude
2. Self-Motivated
3. Team Player
4. Diligent
5. Problem Solver

Interestingly, the top 3 attributes have remained the same as a previous survey done 4 years ago, showing that attitude and work ethic are critical.

More interesting still (to me at least as a Campus Principal and English teacher), the survey identified three key improvement areas:

1. Humility, and a respectful attitude towards all employees.
2. IT skills and opportunities.
3. Professional communication skills, particularly verbal.

I'm surprised at #1 and #2 because our students develop IT skills from Year 3 onwards, but clearly not the right ones for business owners, and respect is one of our 5 key values. So those ones definitely need looking into.

The third one isn't too surprising though. Lazy speaking and shying away from speaking opportunities (often in favour of videoing a speech to a very small audience) means students often lack good verbal communication skills.

I'll be very interested in the next steps action plan that has been promised for all three of these areas.