A New Blog for Catholic School Teachers

Today marks the launch of Catholic School Chronicles, a new blog for Catholic school teachers. If you're a Catholic school teacher, please visit the site and subscribe to the RSS feed, and if you know any Catholic school teachers, please let them know about the site. Thanks.

Teaching Humor

This email has been making the rounds lately, and I enjoyed it so much I thought I'd share it: After being interviewed by the school administration, the teaching prospect said, "Let me see if I've got this right: You want me to go into that room with all those kids... correct their disruptive behavior observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages and instill in them a love for learning. You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride. You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook and apply for a job. You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior and make sure that they all pass the state exams. You want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps and communicate regularly with their parents by letter telephone, newsletter and report card. You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps. You want me to do all this and then you tell me...I CAN'T PRAY?" Hat tip to Gather.com and all those who sent it to me via email.

Did You Know about This Official Update?

(Cross posted at Teen Literacy Tips) School is rapidly approaching, so my mind is starting to refocus itself on what I need to do to get ready to teach. This is the time of the summer that I start watching movies like Mr. Holland's Opus to re-energize the teacher within. In that spirit, I want to share with you the official update to the viral video Did You Know? by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod. I like to keep this video in mind as I start thinking about my goals for the new school year. How will I help students prepare to participate in this ever-changing society?

Introducing Free Daily Learning

Because things at Literary Compass are not all books and no play, I'd like to tell you about the newest addition to my blog family, Free Daily Learning. At Free Daily Learning you will learn something new every day on a variety of topics: Want to learn how to cook Cheesy Soul-Food Meatballs N Baked Potato Casserole? You know you do! Have you ever wondered how to submit a podcast to iTunes? Wonder no more! Maybe you've got kids that play basketball and you want to teach them the correct way to dribble. Let an experienced coach teach you! Future tutorials will include piano and guitar lessons, financial advice, blogging tips and much more! Subscribe to the feed and get a new tutorial each and every day. Increase your knowledge. Impress your family at the dinner table. Visit Free Daily Learning.

Made to Stick Will Stick with You

I began Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood a few weeks ago, but I got sidetracked by a few nonfiction titles that grabbed my interest. That happens to me every so often. I'll make up my mind to start a book, and then another one will grab me by the shirt and say, "NO! Pick ME!" That's what happened with the Heath brothers' Made to Stick, a fantastic exploration of what makes ideas memorable. I started reading it in the bookstore and couldn't put it down. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I never buy new hardcovers, but this one was just proving to be too fascinating--I had to take it home. And was it worth it. Teachers, writers, public speakers, anyone with an interest in spreading ideas should read Made to Stick. It's absolutely brilliant. Chip is a professor of organizational behavior and Dan is a consultant and former business researcher. Together they have put together a fascinating history of some of the ideas that have "stuck" with us, from urban legends about Elvis' motorcycle to memorable ad campaigns like "Where's the Beef?" But Made to Stick is really about how to make your ideas memorable, and this is really the heart of the book. Using the simple mnemonic device SUCCESs, the Heath brothers have identied the essential elements of a sticky idea: Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotion, and Story. Sure, these elements have been talked about before, but not with such clarity and insight. One of the great features of the book is what they call the "Clinic." At the end of each chapter Chip and Dan take a situation and show how applying one or more of the six elements can make the idea more "sticky." I'm a teacher, writer and speaker, and Made to Stick has already had an impact on my work. It's one of the most practical and insightful books I've read in a long time, and I highly recommend it.