Read “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs” (Carmine Gallo, Columnist at Businessweek.com is the author) Copyright 2010. It is a great find and has much practical advice on marketing and presentations. I recently applied some of the strategies with excellent results. Here are a few of the highlights:

1. With Powerpoint slides DO NOT use bullets. Instead, think of a minimalist, zen approach, with a few key words, and perhaps some beautiful visuals. Create a atmosphere for the audience.

2. Consider a factor of three and do not have more than 3 points for any concept.

3. Set the stage by naming an antagonist early in the presentation and then deliver the fix. For many educational presentations, the antagonist will be AYP and factors interfering with student achievement.

I encourage teachers to apply these strategies when working with students and to create an air of mystery or a challenge to pull students into the assignment. For example, one could say “Columbus was the first explorer to sail to the new world” or the lesson could begin with a “hook” such as “Imagine that you are approaching the Queen of Spain, planning to set out to make a journey that has never been done before. You know that others set out and did not return…” We want students to be engaged with the topics, to put themselves in the scene.

From my work with yoga and meditation I have also learned the importance of working with energy and creating a classroom where students and teachers are energized. If yawning sets in, teachers may need to shift activities. One way to stay ahead of the boredom is to pay attention to time and note over a few days when the boredom or restlessness starts to occur. With this information, teachers can then shift subjects a minute or two before. This will vary with each class as classes have unique personalities and needs.

I am challenging teachers to create at least one “wow” lesson a day. [See also "Using Smart Phones to Teach Math" under the EducationNOW page]

Is it more important for K-12 students to learn facts or to enjoy learning? Is it more important for students to learn about their own country or to know something about the world?  Which is more critical, for students to complete Algebra II or to be able to work harmoniously with a small team of peers?  Which will result in a more competitive workforce? A wiser population of adults?

Would you rather that students at the end of their 12 years of school emerged with ideas about their own future and their individual dreams, or perhaps to have sweated night and day, spending up to 10-12 hours a day studying to pass tests?

Is it fair to ask these questions? Are they relevant?  Must there be forced choices?

If we were working with a team of the foremost educational experts and redesigning schools for the future, what critical components would rise to the top of our list? Who would we invite to plan with us? Would we want this to be a U.S.-based and operated endeavor or to include a team of international experts? Would it make any difference to the outcome? How do we avoid the communication difficulties and the problems coming to consensus when individuals come to the group with different philosophies, beliefs, preferences, and thinking styles?

Are we caught in a cycle, almost like a hamster on on a wheel, where we keep running in circles?  Stephen Covey starts with “first things first.”  What should be first?

What is it like for students to learn in various environments — public schools, private schools, charter schools, boarding schools, in homogenous settings, with a multi-cultural group of peers and teachers?  How important is the physical structure of the school building, the resources, the quality of the teachers? If you could change just one variable what it would it be? Is the size of the school important — do small schools really make a difference?

And what of students who are the poorest, who live in poverty, whose schools have dirt floors and no walls, where there are no books? What improvements have occured in these schools in the last 10-15 years?

We have concrete answers to some of these questions. And in some areas we can see improvements. What’s next? How can you be part of the solution?

Just some random thoughts as I reflect on the research I did this week and the discussions I had with others about quality teaching and improving education — in the U.S. and internationally.

41 states submitted applications for the Race to the Top program. Wiithin a matter of weeks the winners will be announced. The Race to the Top agenda is ambitious and includes many strategies to accelerate school improvement. Working with a team of experts, including professionals with content area expertise in math, reading, and writing, the Center for Educational Improvement is expanding our capacity to offer high quality services to aid schools and districts in school improvement, including school turnarounds, restarts, closures, and transformations. We particularly want to establish a student-driven approach to ensure greater student buy-in and responsibility, and greater student  and teacher motivation and excitement for the NEXT GENERATION of student assessment. With technologies that offer a multi-media approach and universal design for learning that builds in accommodations for students with special learning needs or ESL backgrounds, the U.S. is at the brink of creating the world’s most progressive assessment system, one that will allow U.S. students to graduate from high school better prepared to enter advanced college programs.  This is a revolutionary time for education. It is time for the post-NCLB era to begin.