Communication
Seven Survival Skills for Careers
By Guest Blogger on November 3rd, 2015
In his critically acclaimed book, “The Global Achievement Gap,” author Tony Wagner explores what he considers to be “Seven Survival Skills for Careers, College and Citizenship.”
After spending time with the most successful executives and professional people in the world, Wagner came to the conclusion that there is a gap between what our students need to be successful when they enter the real world and what we are teaching them in the classroom.
As a result, he created a list of essential 21st Century skills that all people need in order to be successful in college, in their career, and for their overall citizenship. Continue reading
Getting Past the Fear of DBAs
By Guest Blogger on March 19th, 2015
This article is based on student work published in the FLVS student newspaper, News in a Click.
If discussion-based assessments make you nervous, these tips from FLVS students may help!
DBAs are verbal assessments and are often the most dreaded assignments for FLVS students. Instead of comfortably typing essays and worksheets on their laptops, students communicate with an instructor one-on-one over the phone.
But why is this so terrifying? Surely the verbal component of the DBA is not intimidating, especially when the assignments are approached by the instructor as a conversation instead of an oral exam.
TIP: Did you know that DBAs can be completed in a live lesson setting or over a video call? Ask your teacher about this option! Learn more in this post about mastering the DBA.
However, if you compare talking on the phone for twenty minutes to being the only student called on to answer random questions for 20 minutes in a classroom, you can see why students are reluctant to dial their instructors’ numbers. Continue reading
Communication – The Disappearing Art Form
By Guest Blogger on September 2nd, 2014
Text, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat…these are but a few of the new and most common ways for today’s generation to communicate. Gone are the days of face-to-face time. Gone are the days of just sitting on the porch and shooting the breeze for hours. Gone are the days of chatting on the phone until late at night and mom coming in and saying “Hey, it’s time to hang up and go to bed.”
Today’s teens spend their hours not speaking with each other, but texting, posting videos, and of course, taking selfies. In May 2014, the term “selfie” joined the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (“Selfie: An image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks.”) It is now a permanent part of the American vocabulary. Today, kids don’t see the need for words, when a selfie can express what life is all about. Continue reading
If You’re an Introvert, Yell “I”!
By Guest Blogger on April 30th, 2014
“I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” – Albert Einstein
Educators have been using the Myers-Briggs Type Indictor (MBTI) for years to identify the personality types and learning styles inside their classrooms and to meet the diverse needs of their students. A student’s interests and way of learning directly determines how he/she will see and make sense of the world. If a teacher and a student are both aware of their own unique learning styles, communication and learning will be positively impacted.
Teachers who understand the different personality types and learning styles in their classroom can approach the same lesson in multiple ways to reach multiple students capable of multiple intelligences. Continue reading
The Power of Words
By Guest Blogger on December 17th, 2013
Earlier this year, our FLVS Teacher of the Year, Shawn Wigg, shared his thoughts on the power of negativity in a blog post for The Virtual Voice. His comments were inspired by a presentation given by Jon Acuff, one of the keynote speakers at the Florida Virtual School 2013 Professional Learning Conference.
Jon explored the five stages every life goes through on the path to awesome and looked at what it takes to punch fear in the face, escape average, and do work that matters. As you can imagine, Jon’s words resonated with FLVS employees on several levels. He spoke to us about our influence on others and how often people don’t realize how their actions and words affect those around them. Jon left us with an equation to consider: “1 Insult + 1,000 Compliments = 1 Insult.” Continue reading