Strategic Studies: e-News Volume 1, issue 6 (February 1998)

President's Notes

Success in School

Family Pledge

Change

Lesson Plans Wanted

Helpful Links

President's Notes

Have you noticed that after we turn the corner in January, things just seem to pick up. There just does not seem to be enough time to get everything done. Perhaps it is the shortness of the days or, just perhaps, we really are getting busier. Nevertheless, it is an exciting time for us at Strategic Studies as we put the final touches on our new on-line tutoring page, e-tutor.com and begin to launch a new company and new web page....High Value Technologies @ Hi-Val.com.

E-tutor is full of colorful, interactive lessons that you will want to explore and recommend to your children and others. The cost is minimal, now, as we continue to add new lessons. E-tuor will have 5000 lessons when it is fully completed. Lessons can be found for Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Science and Integrated for Primary, Intermediate, Middle School/Junior High and High School.

High Value Technologies will focus on CD roms and Hardware Peripherals. We will continue our focus in the educational arena and so all of our titles will relate in some way to educating. We will rely on a variety of sources, to give you our recommendations, for software that will reinforce learning, while making it fun. If you have a favorite and want to tell us about it, we will pass the recommendation on to all of our visitors.

Success in School = Success at Work

According to employers, the skills most needed for job success are not the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. In fact the people responsible for hiring entry-level workers don’t even rate those in the top 10! Rather, they say character traits are the most important predictors of job success. Success

Responsible
Timeliness
Friendliness
Politeness
Risk Taker
Goal Setter
Confidence
Listener
Doer
Hard Worker
Prepared

Employers are more interested in what kind of person the applicant is and not what they know. American business spends an estimated $40 billion a year on worker training. A lack of character and basic values is felt to be beyond the ability of business to fix. These character traits are the skills and attributes that create a successful learning experience.....and also for successful employment. If students have the characteristics which are needed to succeed in school, they will already have what is necessary to succeed at work when they graduate. These basic skills of success don’t change, only the tasks do.

Handshake

Below, in the order of importance, are the traits identified as the most desired by employers.

Honesty and dependability
Reliability and punctuality
Ability to get along well with others
Cooperative
Able to handle responsibility
Willing to participate in further job training
Considers self as worthy person
Communicates orally and listens effectively
Works independently
Problem Solver
Has entry-level job skills/knowledge
Reads with understanding
Understands required mathematics

The Family Pledge

We will sit down as a family for some of our meals.

We will build a family library, including some of our children’s favorite books.

We will make family visits to libraries, museums, zoos, and other learning places. We will talk about what we see.

We will set aside enough time to finish the day’s homework assignments.

We will have family "study" time when parents read and children do their homework.

We will balance our time between reading or other creative activities and watching TV.

We will all share in the excitement and joy of learning.

We will take time to visit with one another and to show our love and appreciation for each other and for our family.

(Provided to Parents by Hardees)

Change

The only constant in life is CHANGE. Change permeates everything we are and do. People change, plans change. Organizations change. Change is natural, it is normal. Yet, the resistance to change is also just as normal and natural a part of human nature as the acceptance of change. The secret of growth and advancement is learning how to deal with the pressures of change.....turning positive actions to our advantage, while blunting negative ones.

The capacity to be alone is a valuable resource when changes are necessary. In a culture in which interpersonal relationships are considered to provide the answer to every form of distress, it is sometimes difficult to persuade well-meaning helpers that solitude can be as therapeutic as emotional support. (A. Storr, 1988)

Personal change is the most powerful route to system change. Individuals today can leverage change far more effectively than most institutions. (Naisbitt and Aberdene, 1990) We at Strategic Studies have been fortunate to see change come in a variety of ways to the schools and organizations we work with. Our greatest challenge has been convincing individuals that they do have power and can initiate change, not only for themselves, but for the institutions they serve.

The Sun and the Moon

Finally

I took a piece of plastic clay

And idly fashioned it one day,

And as my fingers pressed it, still

It moved and yielded to my will.

I came again when days were past;

The bit of clay was hard at last,

The form I gave it still it bore,

But I could change that form no more!

I took a piece of living clay,

And gently pressed it day by day,

And molded with my power and art

A young child’s soft and yielding heart.

Anon.

Happy Valentine's Day

Lesson Plans Wanted

Lesson Plans Wanted Strategic Studies needs teachers to prepare lesson plans which can be used in conjunction with the Internet. Lessons are being sought in all curricular areas and all grade levels from primary to high school. You may want to visit

(http://www.strategic studies.com/lessonPlans)

to view a model lesson plan.

For more information about lesson plans, please call (847) 318-7110 (M-F, 9 AM to 5 PM, CST)