New Year Brings Opportunity for Reflection

By Treva Dayton, Academic Director | Tuesday, December 14, 2010 3:00 PM

As we prepare for the coming holidays and the beginning of a new year, life becomes even more hectic than usual with countless obligations, looming deadlines and limited time of accomplish all that’s on our ‘to do lists.’ But here’s wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season, with time for family and friends and some much needed relaxation.

And when you are back in the classroom in January, here’s wishing you the very best in the upcoming UIL academic season. We’ll hit the ground running with CX debate district competition and Invitational A meets starting in early January, followed more quickly than you’d think possible by all the other academic spring meet events.
Recruiting, selecting and preparing UIL academic competitors will take time, energy and creative thinking on the part of academic coaches, on top of your regular classroom obligations. But as you work your way through finding the best resources, holding practices, scheduling study sessions, attending invitational meets and finally selecting district entries, maybe keeping in mind the core value of academic competition will give you a lift when you need it most.

Consider what Barbara Chow, director of the education program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, wrote in the Oct. 6, edition of Education Week, in a commentary called “Rigorous and Deeper Learning”:

“After months of research, and consulting with more than a hundred top thinkers in the fields of education, business, and public policy, we asked ourselves one question:

What could we do to make the biggest impact for students and teachers?

Our answer was to focus on a set of skills and knowledge that reinforce each other and together promote rigorous and deeper learning. These include:
• Mastery of core academic content.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving.
• Working collaboratively in groups.
• Communicating clearly and effectively.
• Learning how to learn.

These are the competencies that today's students need to succeed in higher education, earn wages that will support a family, and participate fully as citizens in the new century.”

And that’s exactly what preparation and participation in UIL academics does. And making a real impact on students is why we chose to teach, isn’t it? To prepare young people to be successful in higher education, in their careers and family lives, and as productive members of society?

This is, after all, competition, so not everyone will come home with the top award, or even a ribbon or medal for placing. But all who make a sincere effort should come away with enhanced skills, a better knowledge base, a better sense of their own potential, a love of learning and hopefully some new friends, as well.

So enjoy the process, have fun with your students, and don’t forget to count all the pluses and ‘wins’ along the way.

Happy holidays!