Family, Heroes, and Lessons Learned From Winning Olympic Gold with Liz, Nancy, and Gwen Jorgensen

Published: Nov. 20, 2022, 10 a.m.

In this episode I am joined by an Olympic gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen and her mother and sister, Nancy and Liz Jorgensen. In this episode we discuss Gwen’s amazing journey to Olympic Gold and lessons learned that we can share with our students. 

 Some of the topics discussed:
1. Find the right group of people that can help you.
2. People that believe in you.
3. Stick with it and learn lessons along the way
4. Give students permission to find what they love to do 
 5. Provide balance
6. Consistency over intensity - if you do it everyday, you will learn everyday.
7. Surround yourself with people who can give you feedback
8. Microgoals
9. Process goals over 
10. Build a culture of feedback. Never attach your feedback to a grade
 11. Feedback safe and neutral - every criticism gets 3 compliments
12. Show them what they do well - give them the power, control, and language
13. Teach students how to be their own critics
 14. Give students the opportunity to reflect on others and themselves.
15. Failure is part of the process
16. You sometimes have talents that you don’t even know exist and learn to listen
17. You can change the trajectory of a kids life when you share with them a talent   that you see in them
18. The student’s don’t know what they don’t know. 
19. Give students opportunities to lead
20. Process goals helped persevere through failures
21. Control the process
22. Set up concrete practice, rehearse
23. Give permission to do what they love
24. Make positive connections
25. Make incremental progress
26. Delayed gratification - did what was hard over and over again


Book on Amazon: Gwen Jorgensen: USA's First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete

Signed copies: https://www.booksco.com/signed-copy-gwen-jorgensen

Free educator guide: https://download.m-m-sports.com/extras/GwenJorgensen/Teacher_Guide.pdf

For author visits, email nancy.l.jorgensen@gmail.com or elizabeth.jorgensen@gmail.com 
Websites: lizjorgensen.weebly.com and nancyjorgensen.weebly.com
Our family story: Go: Gwen, Go: A Family's Journey to Olympic Gold
 
Elizabeth’s teaching book: Hacking Student Learning Habits

Nancy’s choral education book: Things They Never Taught You in Choral Methods

On Twitter: @LyzaJo and @NancyJorgensen