Tuesday, August 1, 2017

How students can learn and serve the community at the same time?

Service Learning Education
What type of education with which the students can learn and help in solving the community problems as well? The answer could be found in Service Learning.
Service Learning based on Bringle & Hatcher, (1995,p112) is an educational experience in which the students would engage in an organized service activity that meets the community requirements which results in gaining a broader and deeper understanding of the course content, a broader obligation to the system and fostering a deeper sense of civic responsibility (Averett & Arnd-Caddigan, 2014).  
It is a flexible way of education, which can use variety of classroom and community settings. In addition to the students and the instructors, community partners will also be key players in developing an efficient service learning activities that will address real community needs and provides opportunities for the students to learn from experience, serve the community, and at the same time, reflect upon their experience and they will also have a deeper understanding for themselves. Eyler & Giles, (1999).
Please share your experience / new ideas about Service Learning education by comment here or using

Twitter: @Adel4A61W #WUInnCurr
              @Adel4A61W #SLearning

*More information about Service-Learning could be found at the Starting Point website Link; https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/service/what.html
Different Service-Learning Examples could be viewed using the following link: https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/service/examples.html
References:
Averett, P. E., & Arnd-Caddigan, M. (2014). Preparing BSW students for service-learning: Enhancing epistemological reflection. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 34(3), 316–331.
Eyler, J., D. Giles, C. Stenson, and C. Gray. (2001). At a Glance: What We Know about the Effects of Service Learning on College Students, Faculty, Institutions, and Communities. Vanderbilt University.

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Self Motivation – Thoughts about how to stay motivated

It is a struggle for everyone to stay motivated. Both negative thoughts and anxiety about the future are always present to put down our motivation. How many times was each one of us faced with doubt and depression?
However, what separates the highly successful person is the ability to keep moving forward.  Andrew Carnegie stated that "People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."
To be honest with you there is no simple solution for the lack of motivation. The key is to understand your thoughts and how they drive your emotions. By learning how to raise motivating ideas, neutralizing negative ones, and focus on the task at hand, you can push yourself through a motivational momentum, and then you will need to keep this drive going.
I’m not telling a secret saying that if you want to do extremely well in life, self-motivation is essential. You need to believe in yourself, you must know how to motivate yourself, and you must be able to keep your spirit high no matter how discouraging a situation is. The only way to get the power you need is to overcome difficulties, those who are discouraged in difficult times are sure to lose even before the battle is over.
Now, to our most important question:  How do you motivate yourself? The following are several tips I've found to be effective to build self-motivation:
     Have a cause that you care about; this is one powerful source of motivation that will inspire you to give your best even in the face of difficulties. It can make you do the seemingly impossible things.
   Have a dream. A big dream. You need to make your cause sold by putting it in the form of an idea that must be big enough to inspire you. It must be realistic but challenging. It must stretch your ability beyond your comfort zone.
  Be hungry for success.  To be truly motivated, you must have hunger and not just desire.   As Les Brown stated Les Brown "Wanting something is not enough. You must have a hunger for it. Your motivation must be compelling to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way".
Run your race. When you have your race, wondering how other people perform is irrelevant. Comparing yourself to others is not effective, it will only demotivate you. The only competitor you have is yourself, and the only one you need to beat is you.  
Take one more step. The courage to continue is what makes a difference between the winners and the losers. Winston Churchill said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."  Don’t think about how to complete the race and don’t think about how many more obstacles are waiting for you. Just focus on taking the next step.
 Let go of the past. Today is a new day, and you have the chance to start again. No matter how bad your past might be, you still have a bright future ahead waiting for you. Just don't let the burden of the past demotivate you. Listen to Ralph Waldo Emerson saying "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could".
Always try to apply it to motivate yourself, don't settle for weakness and let your self-motivation take you to excellence.
However,  this is not all; you need to believe in yourself and follow your gut instinct. Having confidence in your feelings and if something feels right then, you should go for it.
Surround yourself with like-minded and positive people. Talk to individuals whose mindset is similar to yours; this helps you sustain and motivate you to continue.
Continually challenge yourself to do better.  Try to set yourself short, medium and long term goals to work towards and make a point of looking at them every day and use steps to chart your progress.
Stop talking and do it! Turn your To Do lists into Done lists. Make your best-laid plans happen.
Stay focused! It’s easy to say but can be very hard to do. Concentrate on one goal at a time, and make a point of rewarding yourself when you achieve your goals.
Manage your time wisely and don’t overburden your workload with too many tasks.
To close, I would like to tell you that: from problems come solutions! Learning how to motivate yourself can take time, but if you keep at it, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
I hope these tools may help you to pursue a bright future and a preferred carrier.
References
Image 3, retrieved (2017) from  https://pixabay.com/en/happiness-positive-emotions-ball-2411764/
Latumahina, D. (2008). Self Motivation: How to Motivate Yourself.
Turner, S. (2010). How to motivate yourself “ My top 10 motivational Tips”.
The Essential Motivation Handbook by Leo Babauta.


Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Networking for Innovation


Innovative curriculum is an interesting course that I am currently studying among the courses required for my Ph.D. in Education Learning, Instruction, and Innovation.

In the coming days, I will share interesting articles that are related to this course,
talk to you soon.