Strengths Community
The Clifton Strengths School provides education and professional development, conducts strengths science research, and creates a community for strengths-based educators. The community for strengths-based educators is a place to network, share ideas, exchange best practices, and add to the strengths body of knowledge.
We invite you to join the conversation by visiting the Strengths Community Web site.
Here is a sample of what educators are saying after completing a course:
Jacob, restless and discontent with life, but with a desire to excel had participated in a Strengths & Significance class I offered in the Spring of 2010. During our class time, he was often the student full of questions and challenging me to help him put his strengths into practical application. Towards the end of the summer, Jacob’s mother called to tell me that “Jacob is a changed person!” She explained that he had a sense of freedom about who he was and a determination to use his strengths to accomplish his goals. Up until this time, Jacob had felt guilty about his desire to win and his need to achieve big things. On his own initiative, over the summer he developed business cards for a lawn care business as well as actively seeking out jobs for umpiring baseball games. He now was experiencing the satisfaction of accomplishing several goals of his with the added benefit of contributing to his family’s financial situation. It was an exciting and humbling story. I, the teacher hoping to inspire my students, was the one inspired to continue to bring this potential life-changing information to as many people as I can.
Sheri’s Top 5 are Learner, Context, Connectedness, Belief, Individualization
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As a teacher, I love using Strengths Explorer and StrengthsQuest with my students. It helps me understand how they view things and how they learn best. It also gives me the opportunity to give them as much positive, meaningful reinforcement as possible. For most students, learning their strengths and something positive about themselves is very empowering. Once students know and understand their strengths, it can be used in a wide variety of ways in the classroom. I make seating charts, group students for projects, and write my lesson plans in ways the students can use their strengths to work on projects and assignments. Knowing their strengths helps me every day!
Julie’s Top 5 are Empathy, Developer, Relator, Individualization, Maximizer
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I took the StrengthsFinder assessment a couple of years ago and though my strengths
had changed very little from an initial assessment several years earlier, the way I implemented the information was drastically different. In fact, learning about the strengths made such an impact on me that I now assist with administering the assessment to our faculty, staff and students. As a course instructor, I found myself taking notes on the depth and breadth of the students’ plans and how they were implementing their strengths. This component was so successful that we are going to expand it in the subsequent leadership course.
Alan’s Top 5 are Responsibility, Context, Learner, Individualization, Harmony
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My Clifton Strengths School experience prompted me to get my big ideas and hopes down on paper and actually formulate a written plan for helping my college become a Strengths Based Campus. I formally presented my plan to the college President and Director of Teaching and Learning in August of 2010. I am pleased to report that I have been approved to offer a new for-credit college level course focused entirely on learning strengths and putting those strengths into action beginning in the Fall of 2011. I have also written a proposal for a professional development grant to enable a group of 30 faculty, advisors, counselors, division chairs and deans to participate in the StrengthsQuest™ Educator Seminar on site next summer. This progress is very exciting, because I passionately believe a Strengths Based Campus is a powerful approach to fulfilling our educational mission in America. I have personally experienced how learning strengths has enriched my life, and the lives of the students I teach. I have had many students tell me, “This class changed my life”. No teacher can have a more rewarding experience or higher blessing than hearing this.
Joan’s Top 5 are Intellection, Ideation, Context, Individualization, Learner