The Friday Mindset - Issue #54

June 10, 2022

A sunny Friday. The distant chime of ice-cream vans, the smack of leather on willow, the click-and-fizz of cans being opened at bus-stops, the murmur of bees beneath the birches...

Alright enough of that, it's probably raining.

Over the next few weeks we'll be looking at what makes a great summer term experience for students preparing to begin a new year; our pre-GCSE-ers in year 9, our 10s revving up for 11, our 12s getting ready for the year of UCAS and apprenticeship applications.

So we're going to try and focus on the activities we can run, the ideas we need to spread, the cultural capital we can embed.

Crack open a Fanta and let's dive in.

Something to try...

We were re-listening to an old interview with lawyer and investor Chris Sacca and we're struck by a story he told about his childhood. Here's the short version: his folks used to make him and his brother work over the summer holidays, but they split the summer into two halves; the 'sweet' section and the 'sour' section. In the sweet section, they could get an internship or job they loved (and these guys were well-connected, it seems!)... in the sour weeks they had to do something much harder. Sacca reflects on how it gave him a strong sense of the type of work he'd want to do, and they type of work he loathed.

It's also a great thought experiment, we reckon - so we've put together a short powerpoint for you. Students are asked to imagine themselves in the same position, and list the jobs that would qualify as 'sweet', and those that might go in the 'sour' column.

It's a quick, simple 20-minute-er that gets them thinking and talking. Enjoy!

A short thought experiment and reflective activity for the summer term

Something we're reading...

Richard Wiseman's 59 Seconds is a cracker. I know we've been going on about Wiseman a little too much recently - you'd be forgiven for thinking we take a commission from the guy - but 59 Seconds is a quick, funny and engaging look at the evidence behind lots of the messages pushed by the self-improvement and self-help industry.

Are we given dodgy advice, or is there evidence there to prove its usefulness? In 59 Seconds, Wiseman systematically lists everything that has been proven to work, and jettisons all the stuff that doesn't. We love it - and it goes down well with students too.

Buy 59 Seconds: Think a little, change a lot Main Market by Wiseman, Richard (ISBN: 8601404239175) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

Our latest offer(s)...

One course and two conferences coming up - one virtual, two in person.

The virtual one is being run via Network for Learning (Bath Spa University) on June 28th. We've called it 'Building Towards Exam Success: A fifteen-lesson curriculum'. Martin will be exploring a 15-session plan for taking year11s or 12s from day one of the next academic year all the way through to their exams. Details are here:

Building Towards Exam Success - A fifteen-lesson curriculum for encouraging motivation, organisation and effective revision... , Powered By Finetune CMS

OK and the others? Well, the in-person ones are shorter presentations on...

It'd be great to see you at any/all!

And that's it for this week, folks. Have a great weekend - good vibes to you and yours,

Steve and Martin