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Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills- Do Both Matter?

Schools are an excellent place for teaching important (some crucial), measurable skills like reading, math, science, other technical skills, and so on. These kinds of skills are called hard skills, and are pretty easy to track progress in— there are clear, definitive answers and methods to how these skills are learned and carried out. Other learned skills, however, don’t have answers and methods that are quite so cut and dry. These are referred to as soft skills— behavioral traits like leadership, time management, communication skills, critical thinking, and problem solving, among others. 

Should schools be responsible for teaching both kinds of skills? I think they already partially are. I believe that when you teach hard skills, the soft skills sometimes just naturally work their way into the teaching and learning. For example, if you are teaching a science concept, and students are put into groups to do an experiment, they will naturally be forced to use problem solving, team work, communication, and other soft skills. 

Soft skills are equally as important (if not more so in some situations) as hard skills are. In fact, many employers today tend to favor soft skill knowledge over hard skill knowledge. In a digital world where people are spending less time interacting face to face, employers today need people who can take responsibility, lead a team, communicate, and effectively solve problems. 

If employers are favoring soft skills over hard skills, then how do we as teachers ensure that we are providing opportunities for our students to learn these important soft skills that will aid them as they grow, progress, and eventually enter the adult world? Like was mentioned before, a lot of it stems from things that are already happening in our classrooms. So many of the activities and projects we ask students to take part in naturally lend themselves to teaching these crucial soft skills. Group work encourages communication and leadership. Reports and presentations give students a chance to practice leadership and communication skills. Word problems and other kinds of problems allow students to use critical thinking skills. Larger projects provide excellent lessons and chances to learn time management and organization skills. 

Soft skills can even be learned outside of the classroom, in places like home, church, or while doing a sport. Sports provide many valuable opportunities for soft skill attainment, and can teach those skills in ways unlike anything else. Parents can encourage their children to learn and practice soft skills within the walls of their homes by providing children with opportunities to lead family meetings, do chores, work as a team with siblings, or manage and balance their activities and time. Church groups can also provide great opportunities for kids to learn communication skills, leadership skills, and empathy.

While some children are seemingly born with natural soft skills, others need to be taught. As adults, we ought to do our best to encourage and teach the youth of today these soft skills that will greatly aid them in the coming years. Our future selves will thank us later.

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Another Non-Fiction Book That is Fun to Teach

A while back, I wrote a post about non-fiction books providing really cool teaching opportunities in the classroom, and highlighted one book that I had great success with while teaching junior high school. You can find that post here. Today, I thought I’d highlight another book I had great success teaching with my seventh grade classes: Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Armstrong.

Shipwreck tells the story of Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men and their 19 month ordeal of being stuck in Antarctica. The story begins in 1914 as the crew sets sail from England, headed to Antarctica, hoping to be the first crew to cross the entire continent from one side to the other. Things go terribly wrong five months into their trip when their ship, The Endurance gets trapped in ice, and eventually is crushed and then sinks. The crew must face the harshest conditions, low food rations, and high emotions as they try to get to help. Miraculously, all 28 men survive the ordeal and make it home. It truly is an inspiring story of grit and determination.

To introduce this book, I would use an anticipatory guide where I told students they were going on a trip, and they could only take 5 personal items with them in their bag. They wouldn’t have access to power, there wouldn’t be cell phone service or Wi-Fi, and other technology would be limited. Food and sleeping gear would be provided, but everything else was up to them. They had to choose their items, then defend their choices. 

Following that activity, I would have them take a true/false “quiz” with facts about Antarctica. Students were always fascinated by the cool facts they learned about this giant ice continent. 

With that, we were ready to start reading! We would go one chapter at a time, and go over new vocabulary words as we read (there are LOTS of new words in the book). We would read the book during January, which is one of the coldest months where I live. I would always take my classes outside for a while (not long enough to harm them), so they could feel how cold it was, and remind them that what the crew felt was even colder. 

We did activities that involved map reading, learning about different kinds of ice, and comparing our diets and calorie intake to that of the crew, We tracked the crew’s expedition and charted it on a map, using longitude and latitude. We learned about the type of wildlife that lives down there. We compared facts about Antarctica with the state where we live– things like land size, wildlife, population, weather, etc. We journaled as if we were part of the crew, and learned about the kind of sailing technology they had. We measured out the size of their lifeboats and marked it with tape on the floor, then had several students fit inside the outline so that they could see how cramped it would have been. We would end the unit by watching a documentary about the expedition, the crew, and what happened to them after they made it back home.

I did my best to make the experience as authentic as possible so that students could really “feel” what it would have been like to be part of the crew of the Endurance. Students enjoyed the unit and had several hands-on opportunities as we read, which kept them engaged and focused on what we were reading. Because of the activities we did, we covered several other content areas like math, science, writing, and history. 

As an adult reading the book, I also found it fascinating and never tired of this unit. I looked forward to teaching it each year. It was definitely filed under my “Non-Fiction Books Don’t Have to be Boring” file!

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You’re Never too Young for Critical Thinking

Today my kids’ school held their annual kindergarten “Humpty-Dumpty Egg Drop”. Students were given homework to boil an egg, then create some sort of protective cradle for it. On the day of the egg drop, students bring their creation with them, ready to test out their engineering skills. The custodian takes all the creations with him to the school’s roof, then one by one, hurls them off the roof, where they then land on the blacktop. The kids all cheer and laugh as they watch as each other’s eggs are thrown off the roof. The goal is to have an unbroken egg by the end of the event. Some contraptions are wildly successful, while others are, well, not. Regardless of the outcome, they all have a great time.

One of my kids is in kindergarten this year, so I got the chance to go watch the egg drop today. Due to inclement weather, they moved it indoors, and the custodian dropped the eggs from the second level of the school down to the first— which offered the advantages of a softer landing spot as well as a shorter distance for the egg to fall. Even with these changes, the kids still cheered and laughed as they watched their eggs and their classmates’ eggs fall to the ground. After all the eggs had been dropped, the kids excitedly found theirs, and opened their creations to see whether or not their egg survived the fall. There were lots of squeals of excitement, mixed in with a handful of disappointed sighs.

While this seems like just a fun activity to do with kids, it goes beyond that. At the very least, it’s a great opportunity for students to cheer each other on and celebrate together. One of the biggest benefits of this assignment is the exposure to STEM related thinking. The students were asked to come up with their own ideas of how they wanted to protect their egg. I asked my son to think about how he wanted to do that, and gave him some time to consider some ideas. A while later, I asked if he had thought of anything. Immediately, he began to tell me his ideas, what supplies he would need, and how he wanted to execute his idea. 

It was a brilliant way to get him to figure out a solution to a problem. When it came time to build his egg cradle, he gathered supplies and asked for help gathering what he couldn’t find. We gently guided him along the way, and performed tasks that weren’t safe for a kindergartner  to do (like pushing holes through the plastic tub he wanted to use). As he worked, he made adjustments when he saw that something wasn’t going to work as well as he wanted it to. He was essentially testing out his plan and correcting mistakes as he worked. 

As a parent, I appreciated this activity for a few reasons. First, it gave my son a chance to get creative. He was able to come up with his own solution and create a model based on his ideas. Second, the ideas that he came up with were his own. Not mom and dad’s. Not his big brothers who had previously done this activity. They were his. He took great pride in his idea and worked hard to see it come to fruition. Third, he persevered as he worked. Not everything worked how he wanted it to, and he found he had to pivot along the way to make things work. Lastly, he was able to practice dealing with disappointment when he opened his egg container to find that it had not survived the fall and was cracked and smashed on one side of it. 

Any activity that gets kids to think critically is a-ok with me! I want my kids to be able to think through possible solutions and be able to be flexible when things don’t go how they want them to. I want them to be able to make adjustments to their solutions and plans as they go. These kinds of skills are not only useful in school, specifically in STEM related classes, but in life in general. 

So while the egg drop was a fun activity that got everyone involved, it was much, much more than that. Kudos to the teachers who facilitate such engaging, learning enriched activities!

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Non Fiction Doesn’t Have to Mean Boring

Finding engaging, interesting non fiction books for teenagers can be a bit tricky sometimes. They don’t want to be bored by a book that reads like an encyclopedia or text book, and they need a book that is written on their level. Imagine handing an eighth grader a book about the discovery of bacteria and other germs that is written with a bunch of medical terms and jargon— you’d probably end up with a room full of frustrated kids who can’t understand what they are reading. It just wouldn’t go over well. 

Thankfully non fiction books written for and geared toward teens are becoming more prevalent. I was always on the hunt for good informational texts to teach to my junior high classes. One of my favorite books to teach to my eighth graders was a book called Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. 

The book recounts a fascinating true story of a man named Phineas Gage, who, by an unlucky turn of events, was the unfortunate recipient of a tamping iron being blasted through his head while working on a railroad construction site in 1848. The rod, measuring 1 1/4” in diameter and 3’7” long, weighing just over 13 pounds, entered through his open mouth, passed behind his left eye, and exited through the top of his head. The tamping iron continued airborne and was found around 80 feet away from where Phineas was struck. How the accident happened is riveting in its own right, but what’s even more amazing is that somehow, Phineas survived the ordeal, and lived another 12 years after the accident!

The book follows Phineas after his accident, describing the personality and mental changes he experienced as a result of his injury. It also describes the amazing amount of brain research that Phineas was part of, and how this research led to the discovery of new information about how the brain works and what certain parts of it control.

It really is a fascinating story. Gruesome, as the title warns, but fascinating. Eighth graders would eat it up. It had just the right amount of gross, cool, interesting, and relatable to keep them engaged as we read through the text. It lent itself to a great opportunity for cross-curricular instruction and gave students a chance to learn some really cool things about the brain. 

We always started the unit with a little background knowledge on the brain. I would show some real MRI scans and we’d map out and learn the different parts of the brain and what their functions are. We would learn about early beliefs about how the brain works and talk about how far our knowledge of the brain has come. 

During the unit, we would discuss personality, sleep, brain development, and decision making. I would show short videos talking about how crucial sleep is for proper brain development, and videos about the teenage brain. I had students complete their own personal “mind map” where they filled a head-shaped outline with words and drawings of things that made them who they are. We would dive into how surgical protocol and procedures have changed for the better over time; they were always amazed that medical procedures were performed under such non-sterile conditions (as was I!). 

We always ended our book study and unit with a research paper. Their topic was fairly open, as long as it was written about anything that had to do with the brain, its function, its science, etc. I would have papers turned in about dreams, the effects of music or art on the brain, learning deficits, speech disorders, cognitive and other disabilities, and so on. 

It truly was an engaging unit, filled with so many opportunities to learn new information as well as make connections to what they already knew. I loved that it was a unit that combined English and Science, and that students were given the chance to use many different methods of learning: reading, research, video/technology, art, and critical thinking. 

Even if you’re not in the market for a good non fiction book to teach to your class, keep it in mind for when you are or for when a student wants a recommendation for a good book to read. You can also add it to your own personal To-Be-Read list and watch as your mind becomes engrossed with this fascinating and true story! 

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Valentine’s Day Fun: Preschool Edition

A few days ago, a photo memory popped up on my phone from a few years ago of my older kids doing a Valentine’s themed activity. I remembered it being a lot of fun for them, and remembered it being super easy to set up. I tucked the memory back into my mind, thinking that if I had time in the next few weeks, I’d set it up for my preschool aged kids. Well, as luck would have it, neither of those kids have school on Mondays, and we were all going a little stir crazy yesterday, so off to the craft store we went, returning with a pack of pipe cleaners. A few minutes later, my kids were happily playing!

The concept is simple: form several pipe cleaners into hearts and toss them in a pile on the floor. Give your kids some different objects that they can use to pick the hearts up— things like straws, plastic forks, tongs, chop sticks, popsicle sticks, clothes pins, etc.— and watch them go! Having them simply pick up the hearts is the most basic task with this activity. There are also many other variations, such as:

  • Assign a color and have them work on only picking up that color. Provide papers that match the colors of the hearts and have them sort the hearts onto the pieces of paper. This is great for color recognition and matching.
  • Have them transfer the hearts from one place to another. This helps with hand-eye coordination.
  • After they pick up each heart, have them create a pattern. Early math skills are in play here as they figure out a pattern to make.
  • See how many hearts they can fit onto their pick up tool, without any falling off. They can count their hearts once their tool is full.
  • Have them stack their hearts as they collect them, seeing how tall their stack can get before falling over.

As I watched my kids play with this super simple activity, I got thinking about some other activities I have done in the past when my older kids were preschool age. Most of these activities can be set up with little effort, and require materials that you may have around the house (or can buy for very cheap at the dollar or craft store). 

Pipe Cleaner Beading

Give your child a pipe cleaner and a handful of pony beads. Have them put the beads onto the pipe cleaner. This encourages fine motor hand-eye coordination. They can also create patterns, count their beads, and name colors as they go. 

Paper Heart Sort

Using whatever paper you have on hand, cut out hearts of varying sizes and colors. Have your child sort them from largest to smallest, smallest to largest, or by color if you have more than one color of paper. Again, kids can count hearts, make patterns, and recognize colors as they work through this activity.

Valentine Necklace

Cut a heart out of craft foam or felt and attach a piece of yarn, ribbon, or string of some kind. Give your child a bunch of pony beads and have them make a necklace. As with other activities, this one also allows for kids to work on small motor hand-eye coordination, counting, patterning, counting, and color recognition. 

Another great thing about these activities is that they are practically mess free! There’s no cutting, gluing, or coloring. Sure, the beads could spill, but that’s about the biggest mess that could come from all of these activities! Pro-tip, though— if you do the bead activities, have your child sit on the floor. That way, if the beads do spill or drop, they aren’t going to bounce all over your kitchen floor.

Not only are these not very messy, they are also great activities for promoting several learning skills and coordination skills. And, as a bonus, mom or dad might get a little break for a minute while the kids play and learn! 

Let us know in the comments if you use any of these with your kids or class!

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100 Days of School Celebrations

My second and third graders hit the 100th day of school mark today, and my kindergartner and preschoolers will hit it next week. It’s weird to think we are over halfway done with the school year already.

The second grade celebrated by inviting kids to dress up as 100 year olds and did a bunch of activities throughout the day. Amazon saved my behind with overnight delivery and kindly had a cute little “old man” costume at my door by 6 am. I dropped my son off at school and smiled as I watched other students walking into the school in costume. Sure, dress up days can be stressful, but they are so much fun!

Do you celebrate the 100th day of school at your school? If so, how do you celebrate? Since our school year started in the middle of August, we are hitting our 100th day sooner than a lot of other schools across the country. If you haven’t hit the 100 day mark yet, and are planning on celebrating with students, here are a few ideas you could use!

  • Have students dress up as 100 year old people— there’s nothing cuter than little kids dressed up as old people!
  • Ask each student to bring a small bag filled with 100 of something— noodles, buttons, small candies, beads, legos, Cheerios, pennies, crayons, erasers, etc. Have them compare how big or small each collection of things is— even though each bag contains 100 items, the fullness of the bags will differ according to the size of the items in them.
  • Give students 100 small items— math counters, buttons, pennies, etc. Have them sort them several different ways to show how many ways you can make 100.
  • Color and make 100 day hats or glasses.
  • As a class, in small groups, or individually, have students come up with a list of 100 words they know.
  • Make 100 day necklaces with 100 pieces of cereal. Have students count out their cereal before they make their necklaces.
  • Make a list of 100 things they can do (or want to learn to do).
  • Make a mosaic using 100 small pieces of paper.
  • Count out 100 ice cubes into a bowl. Have students guess how long they think it will take them to all melt.
  • Make a paper cup pyramid with 100 cups.
  • Have students create a “Before I am 100” bucket list with things they’d like to do in their lifetime. You can choose the number of things you want them to write on their list.
  • Go on a candy scavenger hunt. Write numbers 1-100 on dot stickers, then stick them on small wrapped pieces of candy (Hershey kisses work great). Hide them around the room and have students go on a hunt. Have them put the numbers in order as they find them. 
  • Have each student walk 100 steps. Measure whose steps went the furthest. You could try different ways to walk— little tiny steps, big monster steps, normal steps, alternating one small step with one big step, and so on. 
  • If you have snack time during school, give each student 100 of whatever snack you have that day. If you don’t normally have snack time, this is a great day to have one!
  • Choose a few exercise moves (sit ups, jumping jacks, push ups, etc.) you know your students can easily do and have them do 100 seconds of each exercise.
  • Give each student 100 interlocking math blocks. Have them build something with them. This is a fun small group or partner activity.
  • Using 100 objects, create 100 written out.

Well there you have it— fun ways to celebrate the 100th day of school! Happy celebrating!

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Ideas for Teaching The Giver

One of my favorite novels to teach with my eighth grade students was The Giver by Lois Lowry. The novel is rich with themes and ideas that lend themselves to some really good classroom discussions. Because the main character is close in age to junior high students, it provided excellent opportunities for students to make text to self connections and dive deeper into the book and really try to understand what it would be like to live in the society that is portrayed in the novel. 

The book is set in a “utopian” society. The people are pleasant and kind. They follow their laws and rules very obediently. The people don’t have memories, don’t see color, and they don’t feel pain, joy, love, sadness, etc. Weather is constant. There aren’t birthdays, and everyone born each year moves up a year (age) all together. They are assigned jobs as they become a 12, and begin training for their new assignment right away. Jonas, the main character, is given the assignment as The Receiver. His job is to receive and hold the memories of the past. It is a heavy responsibility. Through this assignment, Jonas learns just how imperfect his society really is. 

Students today are pretty familiar with dystopian novels, as they have recently risen in popularity. So while the genre itself isn’t new to most kids, some of the ideas that are in the novel are, or are at least presented in a new way. This provides a plethora of discussion and thinking points for students to study as they read the novel. Below is a list of some ideas you can use as you teach this novel.

  • As an anticipatory assignment, have students brainstorm what makes a “perfect” society. What kinds of rules are there? How are jobs chosen/assigned? Is there school? How is healthcare handled? What kind of government is there, and how are leaders chosen?
  • After they have brainstormed, have students design their own perfect society. 
  • Discuss the importance of names and individuality— the people in the novel are assigned a family unit and are assigned a name and a number. 
  • Talk about color. This is a great chance to do some cross-curricular activities. Learn how the eyes see and process color. Imagine a world where color didn’t exist. Talk about how color can influence the way we perceive things and remember things.
  • Talk about memory. Have students write about their favorite or important memory in each category: family, friends, school, a time they were sad, and a time they were happy. 
  • Discuss pain. Talk about what life would be like if we didn’t know pain of any kind. Find some quotes that talk about pain and have students write about what each quote means to them.
  • Talk about how the elderly are cared for in our society vs. in the novel.
  • If you feel your students are mature enough to handle it, appropriately teach them about euthanasia.
  • Talk about different kinds of government and the pros and cons of each kind.
  • Invite students to illustrate or write about a memory of their favorite celebration (holiday or birthday).
  • Have students write or think about what it would be like to experience a particular type of weather for the first time. 
  • At the end of the novel, ask students to write an additional chapter where Jonas returns to his society and tries to teach friends and family about what he has learned.
  • Have students reflect on how Jonas’ society is skewed, and to note any similarities and differences they might see between where Jonas lives and where we live. 

The Giver is full of so many opportunities to teach, discuss, and ponder the rights and wrongs of society. The topics, for the most part, are things that junior high students deal with or at least have dealt with in their lives. They can relate to Jonas as he navigates learning new things and goes through changes in his life. This novel opens up so many possibilities in a classroom and is a book that is worth reading!