CRUSH SCHOOL - Crush School Effective Teaching and Active Learning Blog

CRUSH SCHOOL

5644 1st Avenue South Minneapolis, MN, 55419

I blog on Brain-Based Learning, Metacognition, EdTech, and Social-Emotional Learning. I am the author of the Crush School Series of Books, which help students understand how their brains process information and learn. I also wrote The Power of Three: How to Simplify Your Life to Amplify Your Personal and Professional Success, but be warned that it's meant for adults who want to thrive and are comfortable with four letter words.

5 Beat Summer Procrastination Tips for Teachers and Teens

August 11, 2018  /  Oskar Cymerman

5 Beat procrastination tips for teachers and teens

Have you been to your local supply chain store lately?

OMG. Teacher’s. Worst. Nightmare.

What - My brain is screaming - It’s back to school season already?!?!

Back to school clothes. Back to school accessories. Back to school devices. Back to school supplies. Back to school Louis Vuitton pencils and Chanel pencil cases. Are you kidding me? It’s still July!

Anxiety sets in. I frantically search my cargo shorts’ pockets, pull the phone out, and carefully count the days ‘til I have to report for duty. Turns out, “back to the grind” begins in 15 days. No sweat. I exhale.

Wait! Is that in like two weeks?

What?!?!

When?!?!

How?!?!

The adrenaline is back. I spent my summer writing because I liked it during the day and watching too many Netflix shows for far too long into the night. Reading, camping, grilling, and growing tomatoes while fighting chipmunks occupied my time. I haven’t even watched that many LeBron James memes or World Cup highlights videos.

Why does this happen every single year?

Why am I such an anxious freak at the beginning of each year even after doing it 15 times before?

But wait – my rational brain says - You have three weeks and this time it will be different. You will prepare. You will be ready. You will not procrastinate.  

No sweat. I only have to complete the following list items before day one: Paint tables with whiteboard paint, decorate my chemistry room, order chemistry supplies, fix the broken legs on armchairs and the couch, prepare a presentation for the open house, fix broken Chromebooks, learn the new learning management system our district is using this year because the previous three are not enough, figure out what chemistry topics I can get rid of in favor of more projects and skills instruction, figure out these projects, decorate my engineering room, get the broken PCs fixed, get new software licenses, clean up the robotics kit parts still spread around the room from last year (did I mention I am a procrastinator?), order more kit parts and other consumables (but first figure out what is needed), get the new 3D printer operational, plan 3-5 initial lessons that use 3D printing, plan at least the first week of instruction, send copies to the district copy center for printing, and what seems like a hundred other things I am forgetting at the moment.

“The list” is the villain. It’s too much for our brains to juggle so they shut down. To avoid brain pain, we procrastinate. However, with the right approach we can achieve.

Here are my 5 tips for procrastinators:

1. Chunk the project into a series of smaller achievable steps.

This will prevent your brain from becoming overwhelmed.

For example, “Paint tables with whiteboard paint” involves (1) begging the principal, (2) finding a cheap online supplier, (3) ordering via the school treasurer, (4) washing the tables, (5) covering the floors, (6) priming the tables, (7) first paint coat, and (8) second coat.

2. Write down a plan of action.

Plan ahead for work sessions and brain breaks. Write down what you will work on during each session and then reward yourself with a 5-minute break doing something you like. Then, get back to it!

Example: Work - Beg the principal, find a supplier, order. Break - catch up with a colleague. Work - cover floors and wash tables. Break – grab more coffee. Work. Break. Optional – blast heavy metal music while at it.

3. Follow your plan.

Work in short, uninterrupted chunks of time. Set a timer to 25 minutes and work on one small chunk of the bigger project.

4. Start with the most pleasurable task.

This will motivate you to keep going due to a release of dopamine.

My principal has always been supportive of my wild ideas, so this is easy.

5. Plan for and deal with as many distractions as possible before you begin working.

Examples: Clear your work area, put your phone in airplane mode, tell everyone around what you are doing and ask not to be disturbed, close your door and put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on it etc.

The tips work both for teachers and their students. They work during spring, summer, autumn, and winter so use them anytime you want to "get to it tomorrow."

And if you teach or parent teens, you know one or two or a hundred who major in Procrastination Sciences. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and get started on those tables. Or do you think I should start tomorrow?

Just a quick reminder that Crush School Student Guide, my new learning how to learn book for teens, is now available on Amazon.

You can buy it here.

And if you already purchased one or simply value the work I do, you can help me get the word out about the Crush School Student Guide to other teachers and parents of teens.

Here are the 3 easy ways you can help:

  1. Simply tell others who can benefit from the book about it - teachers who need lessons to teach study skills and parents of teens.

  2. Tweet. Super easy - just click: Share on Twitter below.

  3. Share on Facebook. Easy. Click on Share on Facebook below and Copy/Paste this text: Check out this book to help teach teens how to crush it in high school. Free Bonuses Inside.

  4. Do all three! You will have my gratitude forever :)

You have the power to change lives. Use it often so they can change the world.

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categories / Learning
tags / teaching teens, parenting teens, deeper learning, independence, lifelong learning, simplicity, skills, success skills, learning, making life easier, kids

Quick Tutorial on Delivering Killer Presentations

August 08, 2018  /  Oskar Cymerman

The ability to deliver engaging, effective, and energizing presentations is a highly desired skill employers look for. These days, it is hard to find a job that does not depend on communication. In fact, as businesses use more technology, digital tools aided with effective presentation skills will be even more in-demand. Thus, it is important to teach effective presentation and communication skills in schools.

However, many teens leave high school unaware of how to deliver engaging and effective speeches, slide show presentations, or other multimedia demonstrations. This is perhaps best evidenced by the fact that many adults, myself included, can look at the graphic below and find a few things in it that will help them communicate better and deliver killer presentations.  

Delivering Killer Presentations Tutorial

I use the infographic above in my new book Crush School Student Guide: Learn Faster, Study Smarter, Remember More, and Make School Easier to help teach teens how to deliver presentations. It follows creating and practicing for killer presentations. The lessons also contain an outline template students can fill out to create their presentations. 

I believe the skill of presenting should be learned and practiced many times before teens become adults. This will allow them to not only master the skill but to feel confident and be more effective while delivering presentations as professionals.

The book that can help them with this and many other skills is now available on Amazon for $29.95. Click here, look inside, and see if it is for you.

You have the power to change lives. Use it often so they can change the world.

Oskar

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categories / Teaching
tags / teaching teens, parenting teens, brain, sharpness, clarity, brain rules, neuroscience, presentation, communication

How to Practice for a Killer Presentation

August 06, 2018  /  Oskar Cymerman

One of the best ways to learn something is to do it before you learn. We often try to become experts at something, or at least proficient at it, before we venture out and do it because we don’t feel comfortable doing it.

The problem with that is that we actually learn things better when we try them out as we are learning them. 

However, feeling uncomfortable doing something we don’t feel competent in is normal. New things, though often exciting are sources of anxiety - we fear the unknown. This is how we evolved after all.

But if you want to learn faster, realizing that you have to practice before you are confident in your knowledge goes a long way. If you think about sports, you’ll realize this is exactly how we learn sports. A skill is introduced and then practiced over and over despite the fact the athlete feels uncertain and awkward. And that’s where the coach comes in...

My new book Crush School Student Guide: Learn Faster, Study Smarter, Remember More, and Make School Easier is meant to be a coach for teens, a mentor that allows students to practice what they are being taught immediately. This is why it’s not really a book. Most books do not do that.

Most books are descriptive. The good ones tell you how to do something and give you examples, but they don’t show you specifically how to practice, or provide the reader with the opportunity to stop and practice. They just keep going onto the next topic.

A coach is different. Consider what Obi-Wan did for Luke Skywalker. Before that, Yoda coached Obi-Wan on the ways of The Force. In each case, Luke used the light saber or the Force - he didn't just read or hear about them. A coach, like a Jedi master, gives you the way, shows you the way, and helps you practice the way.

This was the aim of the Crush School Student Guide. I didn't want to "just write" a book, because we forget most of the stuff we read from books.  

I endeavored to create something that lasts and something that leaves lasting memories.

There are great books on learning and mastery on Amazon filled with insightful, science-backed, and useful information.

But if you're like most people who you read a 200-page nonfiction book a month ago, you can probably recall three to five facts from it, and unless you've read it several times, describing these facts with detail and examples might prove strenuous.

This is because long-term memories don't form this way. Rather, they're created when you use the information right away and in several ways. Otherwise, you might remember only the things that evoked the most powerful emotions and little else.

Knowing this, I wanted to create something (a book that's perhaps not a book?) that allows an individual to put what he or she is learning into practice as she's learning it.

To accomplish this, I filled each lesson in the book with spaces for reflection, planning, and application of the skills. Akin to a coach helping her pupils practice, the Crush School Student Guide helps teenagers use and improve the skills they're learning in real time. It doesn't say: "You should do this when you find some time," because "this" never gets done this way.

Below is an infographic I use to give my high school students the information that helps them practice for a formal presentation. The previous 2 lessons in the Crush School Student Guide walk them through creating an effective presentation and provide them with a template to complete to plan the presentation. 

The lesson that comes after this one covers the delivery, because what you say often gets lost when you don't know how to say it well.

But right now, let's remind ourselves that Practice Makes Progress.

Practicing Killer Presentations to Decrease Anxiety and Increase Success

Just imagine how a teen might feel knowing that no matter how difficult something is he or she will eventually always learn it or complete it. Skills create confidence. Confidence in own abilities breeds motivation. Success follows. 

I wrote many of the lessons in Crush School Student Guide: Learn Faster, Study Smarter, Remember More, and Make School Easier to increase my high school students' confidence. Now, I put these lessons in a book because I want all teens to have a resource they can go to any time they need to memorize 30 terms for a quiz, study for a big exam, complete a project, or create, practice, and deliver a killer presentation.

The book is now available on Amazon. I promise you that if your teens apply it, their learning and school experience will drastically change. 

It begins here. 

You have the power to change lives. Use it often so they can change the world.

Oskar

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categories / Teaching
tags / teaching teens, parenting teens, brain, sharpness, clarity, brain rules, neuroscience, presentation, communication

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