Teach Different

How should you show confidence?

The only thing worse than being afraid is for others to see you that way. Fear diminishes a person's ability to lead others. It causes hesitantcy, doubt, and an inability to make decisions when they matter most. Courage, on the other hand, inspires the opposite - faith, hope and an unbreakable will to overcome setbacks. But, maybe revealing our fears and being vulnerable shows a different kind of strength which gives us self-confidence and influence over others.

Join Steve and Dan Fouts with Terry Daniels, a high school principal in Northern California, for a conversation about leadership using the Teach Different 3-Step conversation method. 

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image source: Picryl

Should we strive for success?

We often think of success in life as being tied up with the external rewards we get like money, fame or power. Life is viewed as a race to achieve these rewards. But, maybe we are running the wrong race. Maybe we should pursue more internal rewards, like being a good person and doing the right thing. Aligning our life to the pursuit of moral values may not give us riches and fame, but they will bring great value to the world.

Join Steve and Dan Fouts with Steph Sukow, a high school instructional coach and English teacher in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, for a conversation about success and value using the Teach Different 3-Step conversation method.

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image source: Pixabay

What is needed to change the world?

Most agree that you can't change much in the world if you don't have the knowledge of what needs to be changed. With education comes understanding, perspective and a keen awareness of how to bring change into reality. Education is a powerful weapon indeed. But action in the form of protest and self-advocacy are also vital tools to effect change, and they don't require an education as much as they require courage, spirit and drive. Knowledge and action must work together to make change happen.

Join Steve and Dan Fouts with Mary Ellen Daneels, Director of the Illinois Civics Hub, for a conversation about the power of education to change the world using the Teach Different 3-Step conversation method. 

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image source: PIcryl | Maureen Keating

How should we act when we are angry?

Anger is one of those emotions that we say is inherently dangerous and unpredictable. When we're angry, we are told to walk away or breathe to allow the intense feelings to pass. Yet, sometimes getting angry is actually a wise strategy, especially if we feel that we or our loved ones are in danger. Quick action is the better remedy. Our students should learn how and when to use anger to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Join Steve and Dan Fouts with Shawn McCusker, Director of Professional Learning at Digital Promise, for a conversation about the power of anger and how we know when expressing it is the right thing to do or when it may get us into more trouble than we bargained for.

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image Source: Wikimedia | Calidius | Creative Commons

How do you know when you should stand up for yourself?

Children are taught from a young age that when they want something they should wait their turn until they are granted permission. Waiting cultivates patience. It shows good manners. This attitude works in some settings but when it comes to gaining respect from others, the whole idea of waiting becomes burdensome and futile, especially when other people treat you poorly. Sometimes, children should be taught to advocate for themselves to get people's attention about injustice. Figuring out when to do this in the right way is a life-long moral challenge.

Join Steve and Dan Fouts for a conversation about self-advocacy using the Teach Different 3-Step conversation method. 

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image source: Wikipedia

Does power reveal our true character?

Being a good person is hard enough. It's even harder when we occupy positions of authority. Authority gives us leeway to deal with others in whatever way we want, and carry through with punishments of our design. How we execute our power reveals our true values, because we have the power to choose otherwise. Yet, adversity and hardship test our values too, and sometimes uncover more of who we really are.

Join Dan and Steve Fouts for an unforgettable conversation about power using the Teach Different 3-Step method with guest, Andrew Swan.

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image source: Picryl | Creative Commons

Can our imagination make us happy?

Happiness is something that everyone wants. Sometimes, though, our imaginations create anxiety and actually prevent us from experiencing happiness. We make things worse than they actually are because of what we create in our minds. Yet, at other times, it is our actual experiences that create our suffering and our imaginations play no role. The power of the imagination is unique to each individual and can be a source of our happiness or despair.

Join Steve and Dan Fouts for an unforgettable conversation about happiness that you can recreate in your classroom using the Teach Different 3-Step Method.

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image source: Wikimedia | Caladius

Do you need to fail to learn?

From a young age we are taught the value of learning from our mistakes. The logic goes something like this, when we make mistakes we see opportunities for improvement and learning. Failure makes us wise. Yet, we also learn through our successes. It is through them that we discover what we did right and what we should continue to do next time. Failure and success are both important teachers in our lives.

Join Steve and Dan Fouts with guest Amy Pitino for an unforgettable conversation about whether we learn more from our failures or our successes using the Teach Different 3-Step Method. 

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image source: Pixabay | bladeco70

How do we know when the cautious approach is the right one?

Students sometimes rush into decision-making without forethought. They do it with term papers, for class projects, and even in their relationships. This approach may cause more heartache and work in the long run. There is much to be said about careful, slow planning to avoid mistakes, but there's also an inherent danger in taking the cautious approach. If students spend all of their time planning, then where's the time for experimentation, and learning from mistakes?

Join Steve and Dan Fouts with Julie Cropp, Principal of Roscoe Middle School in Roscoe, IL, for a conversation about decision making and when being cautious may be the right approach.

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image Source: Flickr

How do you know when hard work is worth it?

Students are always being told to do their best and that there is intrinsic value to putting in a hard day of work, regardless of whether they achieve what they set out to do. Students are also expected to achieve results from their work. After all, there seems to be little value in working so hard if goals aren't met in the end. All students must balance these conflicting expectations throughout their lives and figure out their own way to define the value of their efforts.

Join Steve and Dan Fouts for a conversation about education using the Teach Different 3-Step conversation method. 

Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

Image source: Wikipedia