Choose Two

It is very sad to think that we are still living in a world where school is viewed as a burden by many students. That in order to get "good grades" we have to sacrifice our own lives, even though these grades will not define our future. They don't measure your intelligence, they just measure how well you memorised the textbook the nigh before. But in order to change this, universities need to change their policies, because one of the main reasons for grades is also that universities demand them in order to rank their students, and judge them by the number that they have received on their exams, and so on....

That is why, we all need to get together, to change this, otherwise, who will? The problem is that so many people are still stuck in their little box, and they find it easier to stay there, instead of getting out of their comfort zone, to do something that will actually benefit them... It is really difficult to change someone, if they themselves are not willing to change.




But, dream big. Help improve the world. Spread the message.

Dream. Believe. Achieve.

Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.

Life is supposed to be fun. Don't waste it. Make every day count.

Dream big. Help improve the world. Spread the message.

Improvements

What adjustments will help achieve the full potential of our learning at school?

• Feedback instead of grades – written and oral. Sitting down with the teacher and discussing evaluation and feedback; self-evaluation and self-reflection.

• Second chance on tests. We all deserve a second chance and test should not make us feel like they define our future.

• Student-led parent, student, teacher conferences, where students show what they have worked on and learned from it, to the parents, and they all discuss it. Preparing a portfolio and exhibitions.

• Teachers write the reports addressed to the students and not to their parents. We are talking about the student's knowledge and its development. The teacher is together in the learning process with the student, and not with its parents.

Dream big. Help improve the world. Spread the message.

Wise MR. BEAN!!!

Some wise words from Rowan Atkinson aka MR. BEAN!!!

 

We are just given exams that are meant to 'prepare us for University', but there is more to life than just University, because after that, you go out into the real world. And you cannot survive if you don't have any life skills. 

Very well put, Mr. Atkinson ;)

Dream big. Help make the world a better place for everyone. Spread the message.

The Independent Project

I just wanted to spend some time sharing this with you. It is a group of students that decided to make their own school inside their school. They took the initiative and created what they viewed as the best program that would not only inspire them to learn more, but also feed their curiosity for knowledge. It is called the Independent Project and here is the webiste:

http://www.theindependentproject.org/

I was really happy to see that other share the same ideas as me and that they were lucky enough to be in a school that supported their ideas. PLEASE SPREAD THE MESSAGE! This is a cry for help people, something needs to be done to our education system.

Here's a picture of a lion looking up... :)











Dream big. Help improve the world. Spread the message.

School should not...

 

School should not prepare us for university. It should prepare us for life.

 

Dream big. Help improve the world. Spread the message.

Alfie Kohn

An inspiration, that shares the same ideas as me about grades and homework, is Alfie Kohn. He has written numerous books about this topic, and I want to promote this message.

His website: http://alfiekohn.org/


Dream big. Help improve the world. Spread the message.

Grades do not lead to better learning

Grades rate and rank students. Grades encourage students to compete with each other, and not  concentrate on learning and improving, but doing it because you have to. As opposed to having feedback, which will be different for each student, and will allow them to only compete with themselves!

Also, grades are subjective, and not for discussion, in general, as opposed to feedback and evaluation which can be done together. Even though many systems (including the International Baccalaureate) have criteria to help grading, teachers still regard work, depending on their personal thoughts on different aspects which they think are more important and worth more points. Additionally, the student might have memorized material for a test, which often gets forgotten right after. Therefore the grades do not entirely reflect what the student has learnt. On the contrary, with feedback a lot more information is passed on to the students, without stressing them. In addition, there might be a discussion of the feedback, reflection, and self-evaluation. In this current assessment system, the number distracts from the feedback.

Dream big. Help improve the world. 

 

"Everyone is a genius"

Here are some things I figured out from studying in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program.
First of all, the IB is just a game. If you want to be successful, meaning get good grades, then you have to know how to play the game properly. In this case, this won't involve going to school just for the sake of learning. I figured out that in the IB (and in many other schools) you cannot go to school just for the learning experience, and be successful. I can say this, because experience never lies, it happened to me. If you want good grades, it's not enough just to be smart, or to hand in your homework in time, every.single.time. That won't make the difference.

It's really sad to think that we are in the 21st century, and this is still the case in most schools. If you want to pass the IB, you need to know what examiners are looking for, and give it to them, even if you don't necessarily agree with what you are doing, or if it's not something you would have done. One quote that describes this situation very well, is this one:

"Exams don't test what you know. They test how well you can take exams."

It's the same with all tests, including the SAT and ACT. Of course, you need some knowledge as a base, but what will really make the difference, are all the little tips, tricks, and test strategies that you need to know in order to achieve a higher mark. This is why many bright students, often under perform on exams.

Every person has their own way of learning, so it is unfair to give the same kind of exam to all students. We are all different. It is like judging a tiger on its ability to fly. Or as Albert Einstein put it:

"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability  to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid." - Albert Einstein

So, join me in spreading the message. Very little people are ready for this type of change, but it needs to happen. Even though they all see it, they pretend they are blind, and look away. This type of attitude towards our problems will not bring us any further.  Share your opinion!


Dream big. Help improve the world.

Our Education System

So, I have been posting a lot of inspirational things lately, like quotes and images. But as you might have noticed as well, the title of this blog is "Outside the Box". (If you are reading this and I have changed the title to something else, please accept my apologies. haha. no but, the concept still applies, so please, do read on.) Anyway, this means that in this blog I also want to discuss my views on society, especially when it comes to education. Having been through many different types of education in my life, I can compare them. And I can tell, we still have a lot of work to do if we want to reach a better education.

To begin, here is an image (unknown source) that describes our education system very, very well:

 

In my next post, I will elaborate more on exams and tests.

Start Today

Start today. Whatever it is, you only have the present, and the future is not guaranteed. So just do it.

Dream big.

"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser"

 "Life is the art of drawing without an eraser".

credit image: iliketowastemytime.com
credit quote: please let me know if you know, so I can credit them properly.


Dream big.

Be colourful

"Why be gray, when you can be colourful".

source image: Tumblr

Grateful

Credit goes to quotediary.me

Landscapes

There are many beautiful landscape wallpapers that can be downloaded from the following website:

http://iliketowastemytime.com/

Eventhough it has other things as well, the images it offers are really pretty and inspiring. Here are some examples, if you like them, go have a look at the website.

 

Dream big.

The bank of LIFE

"Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course? Each of us has such a bank. It's name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success! The clock is running!! Make the most  of today."

Beautiful analogy. If someone knows who wrote this quote, please let me know in the comments section, so I can credit them properly.

Alan Watts

There are so many inspirational people that I admire for their wise words and way of thinking. I will share more of them later, but to start, I want to mention Alan Watts. I came across one of his lectures and it really resonated in me. What he says is so true. I want to share with you this video, where he talks about money, and what if it were no object. Have a look, and consider that question for yourself. You will see that once you dig down deep and think about what you really want, you will be on the right path to the happy life you want. What if Money were no Object?

Think about it... it's true...

So always dream big and don't limit yourself to something, just because someone else tells you it won't work.

Tiny Buddha

Just sharing another website that can inspire you and give you really good advice on life, basically. It has really nice stories of people's experiences and how they got through their battles. It's called Tiny Buddha: http://tinybuddha.com/ Very zen and peaceful.

Enjoy life, and always dream big.

Hope

Dream big.

Live Life Happy

So, one inspirational website I have been reading regularly is http://www.livelifehappy.com/
It has some really nice quotes that always help me get through tough times, so if you needs some inspiration and strength, I would recommend you check it out. Here is one quote from there that I really like:

And what's nice is that the quotes are on an image, so if you like it, you can save it.

Dream big.

First Post! Hello everyone!

This is the first sentence of the first post of my first blog ever! I am very much looking forward to this journey. In case you where wondering, this blog is about inspirational things to shine a light upon people's lives and hopefully make them happy. As cliché as it might sound, I want to inspire others and spread happiness (I believe that we all want that). As long as you believe, anything is possible. I will be posting inspirational quotes and sharing my story alongside. I hope you enjoy this blog and spread the word to inspire other people that will go on to inspire others and so on! :D

Dream big.