Brand Logos Powerfully Influence Your Thinking

Marketers hit the bull's eye when they advise folks to select a logo with much thought. Here's why... "even the briefest exposure to the Apple logo may make you behave more creatively," according to an article just published in the Journal of Consumer Research. Interestingly, even the briefest exposure to well-known brand logos can cause people to behave in ways that mirror those brands’ traits.

“Each of us is exposed to thousands of brand images every day, most of which are not related to paid advertising,” explains Gavan Fitzsimons, Duke University Researcher. “We assume that incidental brand exposures do not affect us, but our work demonstrates that even fleeting glimpses of logos can affect us quite dramatically.”

Can you see implications this has for your marketing? Here's what the researchers suggest:

“Instead of spending the majority of their money on traditional print and television advertising, companies with established brand associations such as Apple may want to give serious consideration to shifting more marketing resources to product placement opportunities and other forms of outreach that emphasize brief brand exposures,” Gavan Fitzsimons said.

And consumers should be aware that they are susceptible to influences they may not detect and use this knowledge to their advantage. “If you know you need to perform well on some task, say something athletic, you may want to surround yourself with images and brand logos that represent success in athletics,” Gráinne Fitzsimons said.

Knowing how even a brief glimpse powerfully influences the mind, what might you do differently with your own brand logo?

The Game of Jason McElwain's Life!

Jason McElwain shot a final three-pointer to rack up a school record of six three-point baskets and 20 total points in the last three minutes of the final game in his senior year. But, the most incredible part of the story is that J-Mac, as he’s affectionately known, performed this incredible feat in spite of the fact he was diagnosed with severe autism at a very young age. Thanks to early detection and increasingly sophisticated behavioral interventions, and parents who go the extra mile, life can hold more promise for children like Jason.

Jason tells his remarkable story in The Game of My Life: A True Story of Challenge, Triumph, and Growing Up Autistic with the help of Danile Paisner, New York Times best selling author. Check out the review I've written on Joyful, Jubilant Learning's A Love Affair With Books...

ESPN provides glimpses into Jason’s life and those momentous four minutes when Coach Jimmy Johnson said, “Jason, you’re in,” on the last home game of the year. Jason had acted as manager throughout high school. Because Jason loved the game he practiced though he never played in a varsity game up to this point. Catch the love, thunder and emotion...



Jason's story of triumph inspires people to follow their dreams!

Today Jason's employed in a local Wegman's bakery. Wegman's, a regional supermarket chain, is known for hiring dozens of young men and women with special needs and assigning them to ability-appropriate tasks in their stores. Jason enjoys baking bread...

There's a certain routine to it, a certain rhythm. He know the recipe by heart, but it's more than just a recipe... He likes the way the bread smells when it comes out of the oven. He likes how the smell get into his clothes. He likes when customers say his bread tastes good. He likes that he as a place to go, and this his bosses think he's doing a good job, and that everybody at Wegman's knows he's a team player.

Life indeed holds more promise for people like Jason, thanks to businesses like Wegman's who tap into peoples' strengths!

You Can "Get It" with The Age of Conversation 2008

Ever wonder why people don't get it? Hmmm... leaders think differently about leadership, marketing or sales because people are gifted with a unique mix of intelligences... You realize one size doesn't fit all. And there's good news...

To gather wisdom from professionals around the world in these fields, Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton organized a new book, The Age of Conversation: Why Don't People Get It.

When people can pick the brains of folks with social, verbal, spatial, musical, environmental, kinesthetic, mathematical, and intrapersonal smarts they gather new strategies, tools and insights to try new strategies. But, that's not all. This book offers a dividend and here's how...

Readers have opportunity to converse with the authors! The Age of Conversation: Why Don't People Get It has an edge over other books. Each author has a blog. So when folks read a part from any of the five sections, they can pick up you mouse, go to the writer's blog and ask questions or offer ideas. The Age of Conversation: Why Don't People Get It unlocks opportunities for readers regular books can't offer. What a bonus!

And so, with 275 authors contributing, readers open many windows to understanding...

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

With brilliant professionals around the table, The Age of Conversation: Why Don't People Get It 's a winner! Stay tuned for developments.

Easter Perspective

Busy business leaders can benefit by taking time to step aside and rewire. One way of rewiring is to gain more perspective about who we are and our overall purpose. Faith guides purpose in life - helps bring meaning to our overall existence in relation to others, our earth, and God.

One benefit is that faith and spirituality are linked to positive physical and mental health. Faith helps us answer the meaning life has for us: Who are we? Where do we come from? Why do we exist? What is the meaning of life, of love, of tragic losses of death?

In light of purpose in life, many business leaders take a few moments to center themselves. For those readers and friends who celebrate Easter, here's a meditation - a poem by Luci Shaw...

Onlookers

"Sickness is a place. . .where there's no company, where nobody can follow." -- Flannery O'Connor

Behind our shield of health, each
of us must sense another's anguish
second-hand; we are agnostic in the face of dying. So Joseph
felt, observer of the push
and splash of birth, and even Mary,
mourner, under the cross's arm.

Only their son, and God's,
in bearing all our griefs
felt them first-hand, climbing
himself our rugged hill of pain.
His nerves, enfleshed, carried
the messages of nails, the tomb's
chill. His ever-open wounds
still blazon back to us the penalty
we never bore, and heaven
gleams for us more real,
crossed with that human blood.

From Postcard from the Shore, 1985

Blogger Insights that Grab Your Brain!

The brain is designed to grab what input it can and then boil it up into a froth of understanding. John McCrone

Have you found ideas lately that lift you up like helium balloons sail to the heights? If so, you're likely an active participant in social media networks. That's where you'll find blogger insights that grab your brain.

Joanna Young reminded me that inspiring words connect us together. In that light, I chose the quote above. I dedicate the quote above to several friends in the blogosphere who provide insights to ponder...

Drew McLellan points out that The Women on the Web, friends "who have incredible influence in many different fields" describe their blog as a "conversation on the internet." Drew adds, "I call it a blog. But....in very short order, we're going to call it a force. Their question of the day for yesterday was....which 4 women would you like to see on Mt. Rushmore. 70+ comments." Obviously the women pushed Drew's thinking by asking great questions.

In a very powerful blog this morning, Liz shared that she was "stuck in weeds." In a short poem she describes this state of mind...

The sun when it shined hurt my eyes.
Folks weren’t responding — gee I wonder why?
I wanted someone to fix me.

It wasn’t the universe that was wrong — it was ME.

She notes that once she got out of the weeds she could see it had been raining wildflowers.

Heroes and angels were all around me — clients, sponsors, family, friends, folks who hardly knew me were suggesting how to lighten my load — They weren’t asking anything in return.

Do you see what blogging conversations can do! Be sure to sign up for SOBCon08, where you can enlarge your conversation person to person.

Ellen Weber shares why conversations go further and we learn more from each other when we encourage rather than vent or be critical...

Communication connects to most aspects of work when you think about it. It shapes:

1. Time when people rewire time management and share solutions.
2. Collaboration when team members inspire difficult people.
3. Innovation when people invent and suggest a better way.
4. Visionary when people see past the problem and show possibilities.
5. Mood when people use serotonin words and avoid cortisol barbs.

Chis Brown concludes Word of Mouth is Best Marketing:

Beyond all the fancy marketing techniques of SEO and Web2.0, all the competitive analysis and regression plotting — isn’t the best marketing of all when a friend tells you to try something because they liked it and thought you might too?

Gavin Heaton not only generates great conversations on the web that tickle my dendrites, he and Drew McLellan extended an opportunity for other bloggers to write a piece for a book, The Age of Conversation, to be sold on Amazon this second edition. The book will be chock full of amazing insights from bloggerss around the world.

Joanna chose a very meaningful quote for me and other bloggers she values highly:

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another"

Liz, Drew, Chris, Ellen, Gavin, you too, can find a great quote and begin to "boil up a froth of new understanding" with at least three other bloggers you value.

People who shine with interpersonal smarts, not only give out to others, but reap the reward of deeper understanding and build new friendships as they do.

May you all have a blessed Easter!

The Brain Behind "March's Child Is..."

How do you describe your personality? C.B. Whittemore challenged me to describe mine by using a list of traits connected to my birth month. Hmmm... wonder how a person's traits connect to the brain? It's fascinating!

C.B. inspired me by finesse she used to circumvent words that are "difficult" parts of a person's personality.

So here's...

March's Child is... from the brain's perspective.

Attractive personality. The great part is that we can hone our brains to become more the person we'd like others see in us. For instance, if I awaken cranky, I can turn that around by encouraging others rather than grousing. Ever tried that? The result... people react in positive ways. Choices help shape personality. And, there's more...

Sexy. Yes, the brain is very sexy to study and understand just a wee bit more... It also frames sexy in more energizing and exciting ways than the world or tabloids do.

Affectionate. Yes. Over time, I built many dendrite brain cells for affection and that quality's affirmed by those I love.

Shy and reserved. We each have hidden areas in our brain we'd like to probe more deeply and understand. Since I was shy as a child, I have been learning more from cognitive research about how shyness develops. Thankfully, the human brain has great plasticity, and by stretching to take "risks" I have wired a schema for more confidence in my brain's basal ganglia. Now, I'm able to interact easily with others during a conference.

Secretive. The human brain holds many mysteries, of which I am beginning to plummet the surface. As the brain yields some it's more enticing secrets, we can learn more of how the brain influences our choices. I'll keep you posted as I keep learning...

Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. The medial section of the brain's prefrontal cortex has been associated with empathy and regulation of negative emotion. Researchers are learning more... Over years I've learned that as I give away, I receive much pleasure. Hopefully I will rewire my brain in this direction over the next few years.

Loves peace and serenity. When I am in an environment with chaos or strife, it shoots Cortisol to my brain and disturbs mental peace. In the last few years as I've learned so much more about the brain's serenity, I use tactics to turn it around negative barbs, into positive high points.

Sensitive to others... Loves to serve others... As I help others, or extend hospitality around a meal, it brings a sense of calm and serenity to me. That's because it primes the pump of Serotonin, a chemical of well-being, to begin flowing through my brain.

Easily angered. When I miss a golf shot, I admit I used to get a little feisty. My first reactions to anger were emotional and the right side of my brain spun into a tailspin, preventing my logical left side to take over as quickly as I would want. Over time, I've learned how to combat the Cortisol that flows when I'm aroused by anger by tricking my brain as I focus it to a new area. This helps me step back and look into my logical left brain for a sensible response.

Trustworthy.Since I was raised in a loving family, in whom I built a deep sense of trust. By living what was modeled in my life, the schema for this is deeply embedded in my brain's basal ganglia.

Appreciative and returns kindness... Observant and assesses others.By practicing these qualities in our actions, we build a routine for that in the brain's hippocampus. Since these qualities are those I want to possess even more, I focus more on the way I react to others - to be sure that this happens. Because I do this, I am "using" this part of my brain and I am not apt to "lose" my sensitivity to others as I grow older.

Revengeful. Moody. Loves attention. Everybody's nature has two sides and there's much hope to guard against a proclivity for choices that go against the nature and personality we most want to develop. Fact is the less we use it, the more likely that brain cells we've built in this area will begin to die off. When you don't use it, you can actually "lose it" in part through death of brain cells. So personality traits you wish to diminish will take extra focus so that you do not react quickly through emotive responses.

Loves to dream and fantasize. We need to turn things around so dreams and fantasizing help people put together new possibilities. And, to insure I'm thinking logically, I take one extra step to "keep my feet on the ground."

Loves traveling. Seeing the world and working with people of many cultures stimulates my brain. At the same time it provides needed down time to be "good to me."

Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Often at first sight we are blind to another person's likes and dislikes. My marriage weathered differences because it is built on love trust, commitment, intimacy and attachment.

Loves home decors. Ambiance affects well-being.

Musically talented. Music is actually a mirror of the mind. Just to give you a snapshot of where I stand, in high school I played the trombone in Select Band, Dance Band, and Marching Band. I loved the unpredictability of the instrument.

Loves special things. The things I love don't cost money, since the best things in life "Come Cheap -- Even for Millionaires." I love a great talk with one of my grandsons or just spending time in nature, or working with leaders around the globe.

What about your personality traits? Here are the rules to step up and meet the challenge to describing you in relations to traits listed below for your birth month:

1. Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back.
2. Pick your month of birth.
3. Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months (see below).
4. Highlight the traits that apply to you and if you would like write some wit or not.
5. Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them.
6. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it!

I'm tagging folks in the list below along with readers and friends who're up to the challenge:

Al at 7P Productions

Ann at Manage to Change

Dan at Idea Sellers

Darlene at Interview Chatter

Galba at Tune Up Your EQ

Hsien Lei at Cotton-Pickin' Days

Jeanne at Writer's Notes

Laura at Writing Thoughts

Maria at Beauty Is Within

Rosa at Managing with Aloha Coaching

Scott at McArthur's Rant

Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace

List of traits used for each month...

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas.Difficult to fathom.Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

Ketchup Post after Taking a Breather

Last weekend was quite busy. On Saturday, Pamela expected me to shop at the health food store, which is a four-hour event since the drive takes three hours, round trip. Driving home, I noticed white clouds ahead of us and ugly black clouds in the rear view mirror. Soon after arriving home, the storms that spawned tornadoes in Atlanta slammed into us: the hail was flying an hour north of us and tornadoes knocked down power lines, trees, and a church steeple just twenty minutes to the south.



The next day, I spent two hours at Sunday School and church. During my short break, I accepted petsitting custody of a parakeet named Lily (isn't she adorable?) and two beta fish before heading off to a choir festival. I drove an hour (round trip), rehearsed an hour, and sat through the two-hour concert. Then, we took the youth to a pizza dinner, which lasted about two hours followed by an hour long conversation I had with the pastor.




Monday, I filled in for our Bible study leader, which ate up three hours between the preparation, lesson, and cleanup. Not that I mind getting together with other ladies to discuss lesson 8 of Beth Moore's Daniel, a fascinating and exciting Bible study, which covered two prominent figures in history: Alexander the Great and Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Even better, I shared with them other stories I knew about Alexander the Great based on The Story of the Greeks, a living book recommended by Ambleside Online. Since I had not read very much about Antiochus IV, I located The Hammer, a living book about this period of Jewish history. I spent the rest of Monday doing narrations with David, catching up the laundry, and helping Steve pack for his ten-day trip to China.

After Steve left at four Tuesday morning, I could not get back to sleep. Pamela and I had an appointment to do some paperwork for autism stuff, which required another hour in the car, round trip. We made it home by noon. And, who could forget about pollen season! I am obviously allergic to something blooming that leaves a trail of yellow pollen everywhere. That nasty stuff piles up on our brick pathway and coats the car, too. Fortunately, I stumbled upon two tricks that keeps me off of medication during allergy season: bee pollen made in Carolina and homeopathic eye drops. Whenever my throat itches, about ten granules will stop the reaction in its tracks. If I ignore the itch without taking bee pollen, the sneezing attack starts about a half hour later. Whenever my eyes burn and itch, the eye drops will prevent any further reaction. Again, if I ignore the first symptoms, my eyes will become inflamed and turn red within a half hour.




I spent the rest of Tuesday, taking a nap and trying to get over a dull headache. Except to read and dump email, I didn't answer any emails nor blog. My eyes crossed every time I looked at the computer screen.

Pamela invented some car games with all of that drive time! (1) If we see a license plate from out of state, we decide if it is going the wrong way or right way to get home. It is a great way to work on sense of direction. (2) Pamela usually holds the atlas and studies the states. Then, she asks me questions to test my knowledge of the states!

Redirecting My Apprentice

A couple of people have commented, either publicly or privately, about Pamela's ability to be a willing apprentice. Trust me! It took years and years and years of trial and error (lots of error on my part) to get this far. I can still hear her piercing screams and crying and falling on the floor when I was asking her to do things way outside of her zone of proximal development or when sensory overload caused her to meltdown.

On Friday, we had a couple of power struggles where Pamela got angry at me. My strategies include:

• Stay calm. If I am calm, she has a greater chance of staying calm.
• Stop and spotlight my emotion. A year ago, she would not have even noticed. Now, she sees when I am upset.
• Make a command decision to scaffold by making the task a bit easier.
• Use body language and slower pace of speaking to spotlight what I am saying.
• Agree to her proposition if it fits my objective for the activity.
• Postpone her proposition until after she meets my objective for the activity.
• Remind her to breathe and use sensory calming.

The follow clips shows our missteps on the path of self-regulation.

The Brain on Inspiration

Ideas must work through the brains and arms of men [and women], or they are no better than dreams. Ralph Waldo Emerson


Inspiration for today...

The brain is a muscle/
of busy hills, the struggle/
of unthought things with things/
eternally thought.

Joyce Carol Oats

Blogging Memory on Overload?

How many different blogs do you read in a day... 5, 10, 20 or more? If you're like me, you're reading several. How much would you recall about each after reading about 10 or more in an hour? No doubt you would forget more than a few. Why is that? Your brain has a forgetting mechanism...

Brain Forgets on Purpose "The brain's ability to suppress irrelevant memories makes it easier to remember what's important," according to Stanford researchers, Anthony Wagner and Brice Kuhl. The reason why is there's a cost involved for your brain. "Any act of remembering re-weights memories, tweaking them to try to be more adaptive for the next time you try to remember something," Wagner says. "The brain is plastic—adaptive—and one feature of that is not just strengthening some memories but also suppressing or weakening others."

"The prefrontal cortex is the CEO of the brain; it governs cognition, bringing [memories] into line with your goals," Wagner said. "It's an important property of our memory system that the memories change in both directions—they get both stronger and weaker—and that this confers benefits," by freeing the brain from "computational resources" by allowing the brain to use less of its computational resources to recall what's important, thereby making them available for other processes.

Oursource Your Memory It makes sense, that if I read several blogs daily over periods of weeks, only the posts that pique my curiosity or engage me past mere reading, re-weight my memory. Similarly, this same forgetting mechanism is at work when you read several job-related articles! Thankfully, there're several different web tools to help "outsource your memory"...

"Memory Banks" for Recall Handy "memory banks" are available for bloggers to store articles. Mine include Favorites on Internet Explorer or Bookmarks on Firefox. What great recall tools to "outsource" your memory and stand at the tip of your fingers for easy access when you need them quickly for a link.

Stumble Upon, a social media tool can easily be used as your sticky "post-it note." You save the article where you can easily access it, and not only that, when you "Stumble" it, you also bring value to the author.

We're at the tip of a gigantic iceberg when we read so much, but want to recall later... So, what's your favorite tool for "outsourcing your memory" when you blog or want to remember what you read for your work position?

Image by Ecliptic Stock Illustrations

Wordless Wednesday: More Self-Assigned Math Problems!

Panel: Schools Should Focus on Fractions

Forming Character through Private Speech

I promised myself to finish up Chapter 3 of Awakening Children's Minds by March 15, so I better get on with it. This blog post covers the middle of that chapter, which points out the relationship between private speech and behavior. Parents of older children with autism often reassure parents of younger children that behaviors are at their worst between the ages of 3 and 5 (meltdowns, tantrums, overall unhappiness with something unexpected happens). This chapter got me wondering if one reason why behaviors are so challenging for young autistic kiddos might be language delays.

According to this chapter, the ability to inhibit impulses and redirect behavior "depends in part on brain development--specifically, growth of neural connections in the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex" (page 89). The frontal lobe controls planning, inhibition, and memory encoding (all challenges for children in the autism spectrum). In a paper published in 2005, neuroscientists Eric Courschene and Karen Pierce found abnormalities in the frontal lobe: they suggest that "connectivity within frontal lobe is excessive, disorganized and inadequately selective, whereas connectivity between frontal cortex and other systems is poorly synchronized, weakly responsive and information impoverished." The frontal cortex studied excessively connected with itself, making it "deficient in reciprocally interacting with other cortical regions." In short, the frontal lobes of an autistic person may be autistic! This means that people in the spectrum often find it difficult to integrate information from a variety of sources and to provide feedback to, guide, and control lower level parts of the brain. All of these issues would make it difficult for spectrum children to control their behavior.

Dr. Laura E. Berk recommends teaching preschoolers good habits through "adult conversation, guidance, and example" from "warm and sensitive and clear, consistent, and reasonable" parents. One challenge in forming habits is the sheer number of them (page 88),

But the young child who wants so much to be good must assimilate a great many rules--rules for taking care of property; rules for respecting other people; rules for safety; rules for self-care, eating, and dressing; rules for doing chores; rules for good manners; and more.

Here is the nut of this section for parents of autistic children: "And the best predictor of individual difference in self-control was language development" (page 89). Why? Children benefit greatly when adults suggest how to wait patiently by changing their thoughts or how to resist doing something unacceptable by thinking about the other person's feelings. They reference the reactions of adults to learn when to feel proud, guilty, or ashamed of their behavior. The child would have difficulty changing behavior when she finds it difficult to process verbal guidance from adults, lacks the private speech to direct herself, and cannot interpret the reaction of adults to her behaviors.

Laura also points out that how we guide children should depend upon their temperament. Sensitive, inhibited children form good habits easily and respond best to "mild, patient discipline--polite requires, explanations, and suggestions for how to resist temptation" (page 91). Impulsive, fearless children show little remorse with mild parenting but become belligerent with tough love. Relationship is everything to these children: "an early, warm sensitive parent-child bond is a good predictor of conscience at age 5 in these children" (page 91). I have one of each, and my experience matches this theory. My inhibited child (Pamela) needs a soft touch, while my impulsive child (David) responds best to people with whom he has a close bond.

I found many parallel thoughts between Laura Berk and Charlotte Mason in this chapter. Charlotte devoted many pages to developing good habits in children of all ages: infant, mental, and moral habits and physical, intellectual, moral, and religious training. Just like Laura, she realized that children who want to be good need guidance, "He is born to love the good, and to hate the evil, but he has no real knowledge of what is good and what is evil; what intuitions he has, he puts no faith in, but yields himself in simplicity to the steering of others" (page 331). She also preferred a hopeful and expectant style over a barrage of do's and don't or bullying children into submission. To teach self-management (pages 324-326), she recommended thinking about the benefits of resisting temptation, finding a diversion, changing thoughts, etc. Finally, Charlotte recognized the role of temperament and, in her book on forming character, she employed different strategies, depending upon the nature of the child. I will close with a quote from Charlotte (page 102),

We entertain the idea which gives birth to the act and the act repeated again and again becomes the habit; 'Sow an act,' we are told, 'reap a habit.' 'Sow a habit, reap a character.' But we must go a step further back, we must sow the idea or notion which makes the act worth while. The lazy boy who hears of the Great Duke's narrow camp bed, preferred by him because when he wanted to turn over it was time to get up, receives the idea of prompt rising. But his nurse or his mother knows how often and how ingeniously the tale must be brought to his mind before the habit of prompt rising is formed; she knows too how the idea of self-conquest must be made at home in the boy's mind until it become a chivalric impulse which he cannot resist.

Blending Therapies with Graphic Organizers

To recap my last post on how Pamela and I read books, we begin a reading by recalling the last one: (1) thinking about the known and asking questions about the unknown, (2) reading the title and predicting the problem, or (3) narrating the previous reading. After that, Pamela is ready to read several pages from a chapter book. Keeping in mind the zone of proximal development, we rarely read an entire chapter in one sitting.

This time I printed out sheets on setting from an ebook of graphic organizers (you can also try making your own in Word or downloaded free ones). I needed three sheets to cover the chapter: downstairs, upstairs, and outside.

Downstairs:


Upstairs:


Outside:


When we read and narrate books, we cycle from one method to another. First, she reads half a page, closes the book, and narrates what she remembers orally (Charlotte Mason). Then, I open the book and ask her questions with the page in view to practice syntax (the association method). After that, we shift to the graphic organizer for Pamela to record her ideas. Then, we cycle back to reading the book until we make it through our goal for the day. In all activities, I encourage her with a warm, playful attitude and dialog as we figure out what needs to go on the sheet.

The following clip illustrates one day's worth of reading and narrations. I did edit as much as I could, but, since I know parents of struggling narrators (especially autistic kiddos) have asked about how you narrate with someone still learning English as a first language. The clip lasts fourteen minutes, but I did add titles throughout it to explain the method behind the madness.

Celebrating Stars that Shine in the Blogosphere

"Fill Your Day with Stars," Liz Strauss advises. Her words were special today since it's my birthday. And, I'd like to point out some shining stars who've crossed my path in the blogosphere, including Liz! There are stars who're shining brilliantly with their gifts and talents.

Verbal Linguistic Joanna Young encourages us to be "Fire-Breathing Writing Dragons." Here's a real gem showing how...

I guess this is what inspiration means for me. It's the invitation, the challenge, the spark that gives me fire-breathing powers. That makes me feel like I'm breathing in, deep, and breathing out, hard. Telling a truth, sharing something essential, using my power. And the writing that comes from that place, well it does have the power to change things, even if it's just changing me. (And sometimes changing ourselves is more than enough.)

Logical-Mathematical Drew McLellan shares some solid tips if you need to raise prices though it may seem the country's in recession. Bottom line is...

No matter how you handle a price increase, one element is critical. Be upfront and demonstrate value. Your clients don't begrudge you making a profit. They just want to get a value for their dollar. Price increases can be a win/win if you think them through and handle them correctly.

Musical Intelligence Bill at Write Life asks This is not about Celine Dion - or is it? Music we enjoy actually makes a statement about us... since it reveals the aesthetics.

Bill asks good questions as he reviews Carl Wilson’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the end of Taste. Think about this example...

Music such as death metal could be described as hyper-masculine music. So couldn’t Celine’s music be described as hyper-feminine? And if so, why does one get currency but the other is supposed to be something to be ashamed of?

Check out "I'm Alive" ...


Interpersonal Intelligence Gavin Heaton is a blogger with top "social smarts." He continuously values other bloggers. To give newbies a chance against the A-listers, he published the now famous Z-list in Wikipedia. To be sure, Gavin values women, from 108 year old Ollie to all the women on his blog today honoring women blogger friends on International Women's Day. And be sure to check out Age of Conversation, which Gavin helped create with help from 100 of the world's leading marketers.

Intrapersonal Intelligence This intelligence brings out inner strengths as a way to lead. Rosa Say shares Ho‘ohanohano, the value of dignity and respect, as a way for No More Jerks for Managers! Here's just one of Rosa's brilliant Ho‘ohanohano tips:

Honor the intelligence of others--trust it is there, and they are learners.

Spatial Intelligence Last week Brad Shorr asked bloggers to write a post based on his cartoon creation. Many others contributed to the effort. You'd enjoy seeing how this cartoon is transformed to words through many bloggers! You used your smarts to think of this contest, Brad! And, I'm hoping to see my name for the nano on the 10! Here're some of the entries:

Ellen Weber's Words that Whack or Win

Joanna Young's 5 Reasons to Take Care of Your Words

Jeanne Dininni's Using Words Effectively to Convey Meaning

Robert Hruzek's 5 Things You Should Do BEFORE You Hit "Publish."

Darlene McDaniel's For Managers Only: Don't Assume They Understand Your Expectations

Robyn McMaster's Bloopers for Belly Laughs on a Stressful Day

Brad's own entry: Words Equal Action, BUT...

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence If you get tired sitting at your computer, why not exercise to banish tiredness? Here's a good reason why...

Resting is no solution for those suffering from frequent fatigue. On the contrary, doing regular, low-intensity exercise does help in pepping up energy levels, recent research has revealed.

If you have some low-intensity exercises you enjoy, I'd love to hear what they are.

Naturalistic Intelligence Anna in Aurora, Ontario, anticipates spring as she's being drenched by snow as I am. To put her mind in the right direction she decided to Forget Me Not what spring looks like. She posted an absolutly prize winning photo she took of Forget-Me-Nots. She says,

Forget-me-not is not the first flower in the spring, however, soon as it starts blooming at the beginning of summer, I cannot get enough of it. This photo was taken at home, as I collected a bunch of them from my garden, along with my Lilly of the Valley. Enjoy.

Multiple Intelligences It's not often that I can highlight a blogger who uses all eight intelligences for creating a blog. Ta da... Joanna Young used her multiple intelligences to formulate her blog today, and you'll see her at her best with tongue in cheek to boot!

So you see many stars shining in the blogosphere! Are you learning as much from them as I am? Today, my birthday, I celebrate all of you!

Asking Questions before a Reading

Pamela and I have worked years for her to be ready to write her own narrations. Thanks to the association method, she has stockpiled enough syntax to form simple sentences. Last summer, I began easing her into written narrations by making sentence strips based upon her oral narration. Now, as recommended by Jennifer Spencer in a presentation at last year's Charlotte Mason Conference, I am using graphic organizers to help her organize her ideas before she writes. In this post, I will cover one of several we review before a reading. I have three sources for graphic organizers: (1) I make my own in Word with the diagram feature, (2) I read through an e-book I purchased online, and (3) I print out free ones.

Charlotte Mason believed that my part, as an educator, is to look over the day's work in advance and "see what mental discipline, as well as what vital knowledge, this and that lesson afford" (page 180). Today, Pamela started Chapter 3 of Miracles on Maple Hill. At the beginning of every chapter, I try to find a graphic organizer to help her get back into the plot. In this case, I chose one in which the student writes what is known and asks questions about what is unknown. Charlotte believed that children ought to come up with their own questions when reading (page 181),

Let the pupil write for himself half a dozen questions which cover the passage studied; he need not write the answers if he be taught that the mind can know nothing but what it can produce in the form of an answer to a question put by the mind to itself.

In the story, the protagonist, Marly, is a little girl whose father is grieving his experience as a soldier and prisoner of war in World War II. The family decides to move to the country to farm and fix up her deceased great grandmother's old abandoned house in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the chapter, Marly enters the neglected house for the first time. We left one column empty because we hope the book will answer these questions. Having previewed the chapter, I know she will be able to answer the third question after she finishes Chapter 3.


In the video clip, you can see us in action. I edited portions of the clip in which Pamela was writing and added titles to spotlight what we are doing. The first obvious thing is how much Pamela references me both verbally and nonverbally! Second, I try to rely on declarative language as much as possible, even when redirecting her when she misses the mark. One thing to keep in mind is that open-ended questions with no right or wrong answers are declarative if she willingly offers an answer. Third, she pays attention to nonverbal cues when I use my gasp and face to point out a missing question mark. I plan to follow-up with more posts and clips about how we blend graphic organizers, Charlotte Mason, the association method, and RDI to teach Pamela written narration.

When Is Cheating Really Cheating?

I find the whole discussion of private speech in the book Awakening Children's Minds fascinating because Pamela has so little of it. Lev Vygotsky found a link between social speech and private speech, which makes sense because Pamela's lack of social speech as a young child would explain the lack of private speech. One quote from Laura's book makes me go "Ouch!" (page 81),

Other observations of children's language concur that social and private speech have common roots. For example, the most socially interactive preschool and kindergarten children tend to use the most private speech. . . When an adult places barriers between young children, such as cardboard screens or upright books that prevent easy visual access (a practice that, as noted in Chapter 2, American teachers often use to keep children from seeing one another's work), both social speech and self-guiding utterances that might be helpful in mastering a task diminish drastically.

My mind gets all twisted in thinking through this. I attended a college that kicked out students for cheating! Clearly, copying another person's work and passing it off as your own is cheating. I think you must give credit where credit is due when submitting work as your own. However, in the real world, people work together; they collaborate and share ideas in nearly job you can imagine. In my first semester of an electrical engineering class, I became lab partners with a football player who excelled at the hands-on work. We made a great team because I excelled at the theoretical calculations and write-up. By some miracle, we ended up in the same class for second semester and teamed up again. Is it cheating when children work together while learning new tasks that should not be graded anyway? Is it cheating when parents scaffold a child doing homework? What is a parent to do when their child develops the habit of frustration because the parent feels guilty about scaffolding?

Why is private speech so important? Vygotsky discoverd that the rate of private speech doubles when young children face obstacles in their learning. While older children do not react in this way, "they usually pause (as if to think) and quickly redirect their behavior" (page 83). He asked older children about their thoughts, and they described inner thought that matched the private speech of younger children. Private speech is the foundation of the soundless inner speech we use to guide our actions when solving problems. This reflection of social speech allows children to regulate their behaviors. Children keep tasks within the zone of proximal development through private speech in the same way that adults encourage children with their warm social communication while scaffolding. In short, private speech is one form of self-regulation.

Right now, when she feels stuck, Pamela engages in social speech, not private speech. To verify my assumption, I ignored her today when she started verbalizing her struggles with math and language arts. She repeated her statements several times, getting louder, and then looked up at me to see if I was paying attention to her. I quickly realized that Pamela intended these verbalizations to be social speech and not private speech because she was not satisfied until I responded!

Pamela's lack of private speech fascinates me because I am not sure whether she has already advanced to soundless inner speech or is still mastering the social speech that will become private speech (and eventually inner speech). Time will tell!

Grace in Geometry

Lisa Cadora's blog post on Grace and Learning got me to thinking about David and his checkered past with math. She described the frustrations of teaching herself to crochet a cool, hip accessory and how much more gracious we are with ourselves than with our students. She concludes,

Charlotte Mason said that the only education is self-education. Did she see that grace is necessary for learning, and that we are most graceful with ourselves? If so, maybe it’s not only that we as teachers must create gracious, grace-ful conditions, environments and relationships in which our students can learn, but that we must bring them to be gracious to themselves.

My husband has two engineering master's degrees, and I have one in statistics. For many years, I thought the math gene had skipped my fifteen-year-old, neurotypical son, David. His temperament is very much like that of my father, who has never met a math problem he liked. Teaching David elementary school math frustrated us both. In hindsight, I think I was part of the problem. I think sometimes, if I had shown more grace, we would have shed fewer tears. Fortunately, he finds algebra and geometry a breeze. Was it maturity and a leap in abstract thinking or a more gracious attitude from me?

I think grace in learning might be related to masterly inactivity (wise letting alone). Elements of masterly inactivity include "authority, good humor, confidence, both self-confidence and confidence in the children," which I lacked because I assumed David would always struggle with math like my father. I stopped looking him as a unique person and saw him as a mirror image of my father because they have so many personality traits in common.

Charlotte Mason believed that we should be gracious enough to let children take personal initiative in their work (page 37-38):

In their work, too, we are too apt to interfere with children. We all know the delight with which any scope for personal initiative is hailed, the pleasure children take in doing anything which they may do their own way; anything, in fact, which allows room for skill of hand, play of fancy, or development of thought. With our present theories of education it seems that we cannot give much scope for personal initiative. There is so much task-work to be done, so many things that must be, not learned, but learned about, that it is only now and then a child gets the chance to produce himself in his work. But let us use such opportunities as come in our way.

On the flip side of this coin, we hurt our children by letting them get so frustrated that they develop the habit of tears. I think we also must keep in mind scaffolding, being alert when to step in and support the child and when to step out a la masterly inactivity. The geometry problem above is a great example. David had to figure out the measurement of each angle in the problem, based upon the diagram and information provided. He had to apply the definitions of bisected angles and right angles, the relationship between vertical and supplementary angles, and the sum of interior angles for triangles (180 degrees) and quadrilaterals (360 degrees). What made this problem difficult is that one wrongly calculated angle would create a domino effect of errors.

Applying masterly inactivity, I left David to his own devices. He worked his way through the calculations and figured out the angles for about five shapes before coming to me because the problem stopped making sense. Then, I switched to scaffolding and congratulated him for recognizing when he was stuck. I studied his work and noticed an error. I erased all of the mistakes and highlighted what was correct, and he went back to work. He went back and forth with me several times, getting frustrated at himself for his errors. Rather than joining him in his vent, I told him about Lisa's blog post about giving yourself grace when making mistakes. I even emailed it to him later in the day. I reassured him that the problem really was challenging and got him back on track.

In the last round, he made another little mistake and I decided to put all of the formulas into a spreadsheet to make sure I was on the right track, too. As I built the spreadsheet, I realized how complicated the problem was. At that point, I was so thankful to have read Lisa's post that morning and let grace win the day.