Martin Griffin Works to Build Student Confidence

One of the goals of any educational administrator is to offer his or her students the chance to build confidence, according to former California principal Martin Griffin. To help these students, especially at the high school level, build a healthy level of confidence it is necessary to promote an education in social and emotional awareness. These skills, if developed properly, will aid the student in whichever career they choose.

Often, high school students are very wrapped up in their own worlds and daily concerns. This can appear selfish, but is actually a part of their own growth cycle. When teenagers are offered the opportunity to step away from their own issues and observe others, their perspectives are forever changes. Giving high school students the chance to step back and look at the world around them, even the microcosm that is high school, promotes social and emotional awareness. Many teachers offer assignments that require the student to simply observe the behavior of their class in a group setting, such as the cafeteria. Students witness which groups tend to gather and who gets left behind.

Building an understanding and awareness of social behavior and emotional intelligence is vital to the workforce. To be a great leader or manager, a person needs these skills. The ability to place one's self in another's shoes leads to a greater understanding and better long-term communication. Martin Griffin and his colleagues do all they can to give students the chance to develop this confidence and the associated traits.
​

Martin Griffin Educates Teachers on Student Distractions

According to long-time principal and educational administrator, Martin Griffin, students face more distractions today than in any other historical time. Much of this distraction stems from the technologies that they carry on their person, such as cell phones and tablets. The computers that are offered at school and those owned at home are also proving to have a distracting quality. This is not to say that all technology is bad, or will have a negative impact on the student's ability to learn. When used properly, technology can be a great educational resource. 

                               

Educators and administrators struggle with how to use technology to improve education, without allowing it to become such a distraction. Students are drawn to things that are visually stimulating, thanks to the wiring within the brain. Ninety-nine out of one hundred high school students would rather watch a movie about World War I than listen to an hour long lecture on the topic. These same students would rather watch a demonstration on chemical changes than take notes from a book on the science of chemistry. Yet, too much watching can lead to poor learning. 

When the brain is overstimulated, it does not take in all of the necessary information. Martin Griffin explains that the most recent studies show that students who are told to read a story online are less likely to learn the meaning of the story. However, if they are given a book containing the story to read, they are more apt to learn and remember the topic.

Martin Griffin Deals with School Avoidance

Martin Griffin, and countless other school administrators, contend with the issues of school avoidance on a regular basis. This issue is growing in urgency and recurrence, causing educational issues for teachers and students. Truancy is defined as a student's tendency to miss all or part of their scheduled school day, and is deemed a concern when it happens repetitively. Unfortunately, each state operates under a different set of guidelines when considering truancy, and very few state keep accurate track of their student truancy rates. However, many administrators who are tasked with correcting this behavior have determined that each school has as many as 20%, or one of every five students, with an avoidance issue.

Children and teenagers enter into a phase of school avoidance for different reasons. Much of the time, the issue stems from problems at home or psychological concerns with the student. Often, parents are at a loss as to what to do to correct the behavior. Administrators and teachers offer resources and advice, but cannot force a child to attend school. As truancy rates and school avoidance continues to increase, the level of education received by the student suffers. This phenomenon also causes disruption for the students who remain in school as they are supposed to.

After spending a number of years as a high school principal, Martin Griffin thinks that school avoidance is an issue that must be fought from all sides. Both the educational professionals and the parents or guardians must do all they can to ensure a student attends school each day.