student motivation Archives - Jeff Everhart

The Challenge of Making It New

Most of the ideas that people have are not new. They may be new to that person, or new to the situation, but so often they are reproductions of other ideas, other situations, other solutions. There is nothing wrong with this. We are social creatures. We learn from each other, our successes, our failures. The […]

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Understanding and Promoting Innovation in 21st Century Communities: Part 2

Ignoring Conventional Wisdom Communication has a large role in influencing how people make decisions. People develop opinions and sometimes these opinions become widely accepted, often disguised as facts. That is not to say that conventions are devoid of value entirely, but little new ground is ever struck by following old or worn paths. Great ideas […]

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Understanding and Promoting Innovation in 21st Century Communities: Part 1

I’ve been reading a lot lately on innovation, how to harness it, how to define it, and how to help other people get there. Although all of these scenarios require a fair amount of work to achieve, it is important to be honest with yourself so that you understand where you fit in currently so […]

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A New Look at Reading and Writing Assignments

While communication technology has changed rapidly over the last thirty years, our modes of teaching students to be communicative have changed very little. The essay still seems to be the time-tested standard in many areas of the humanities and the social sciences. Increasingly, students in public schools are exposed to informational media that is published digitally, […]

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