Could it be time for a change?

Brains bored by lectures

If you went down the hall and peered inside Bologna's standard 11th Century lecture room, you wouldn't feel as if you were in a museum.  You would feel at home,  John Medina says in Brain Rules

Distractions more interesting

Minus mikes and PowerPoints, what's the difference?


Innovations are incubated when leaders and learners are facilitated to follow their natural curiosity about a topic through playful explorations.

Consulting Information Model

Making sense from information & providing meaning
/ specific / expensive/ niche -> information

- what works
- what's important / only important
- real usage / use
- identify alternatives
- assess risks
- give solutions
- identify trends / patterns
- key performance indicators
- ratios
- available raw statistics
- market making
- market research
- costs & prices
- information sources
- bibliography

BusinessBalls.com

It's a blessing when one finds quality business resources on the today's web.
Well I just find a gold mine.

Businessballs.com is for years around. Provides so much content for learning.
Very basic and advanced material.
Just ''print'' !

Coaching

When speaking about values...

Certificate in Professional Coaching Practice

Respect
We treat everyone as equals, we value difference and promote diversity. We are fair, respectful and appropriate.

Honesty
We are open and honest with ourselves and others. We communicate clearly and ensure we are understood and we do not make excuses to ourselves or to others.

Trust
We share information openly and are able to speak freely. We build long-term relationships with others.

Integrity
We maintain high professional and ethical standards and are accountable for what we say and do.

Fun
We promote laughter, happiness and humour in our love and encourage others to achieve a feeling of contentment.

Realising Potential
We inspire others to achieve. We encourage others to look within and find their true-selves allowing their full potential to be discovered.

Choice
We promote freedom of views. We engage others to find their own path through self-directed learning and facilitation.

Willpower Not Enough?

What do you want to accomplish in the coming year? Like me, you no doubt named goals you want to make a reality. In past years I relied on strong willpower and determination to see me through. But, somewhere along the way, I joined the 78% of people who fail to keep all their New Year's goals. Why is that?

Interestingly, willpower's not enough! Unless we're committed, we're easily distracted. Ever procrastinate about exercise after a long day at the desk, or eat some strawberry delight loaded with whipped cream after a huge meal? Temptations can quickly take us off track. We easily remain in the computer chair to avoid moving when we could go for a hike or begin aerobics. Only a few go after goals with something more than just willpower. Why isn't willpower enough to meet goals?

A new study, published in Psychology and Health, reveals that if you use your willpower to do one task, it depletes you of the willpower to do an entirely different task.

"Cognitive tasks, as well as emotional tasks such as regulating your emotions, can deplete your self-regulatory capacity to exercise," says Kathleen Martin Ginis, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University.

You'd also be interested in ways our brain affects willpower:

Liberating Effects of Losing Control Relinquishing some willpower or self-control is paradoxically tonic for many individuals.

Interestingly, there are differences in brains of self-controlled individuals versus those who struggle staying on track... "While everyone uses the same single area of the brain to make these sorts of value-laden decisions, a second brain region modulates the activity of the first region in people with good self-control," according to Antonio Rangel of Caltech, "allowing them to weigh more abstract factors--healthiness, for example--in addition to basic desires such as taste to make a better overall choice."

Good news is that the human brain has great plasticity and can change. So the more we practice control, we're also more likely to consider many factors before making a choice.

5 Strategies to meet goals by using more of your multiple intelligences. Here're just a few suggestions

Do it through Daily actions - A daily checklist can be motivating and helps insure you complete tasks involved in meeting a goal, whether that is to read material for a project or to keep calorie count below a certain level. Spatial and Logical-mathematical intelligences

Reward yourself when reaching milestones - People like milestones. By setting milestones along the journey to meet a goal, whether it is getting a college degree or swimming more yards in the length of a minute, choosing rewards appropriate to your accomplishment is important. They work as motivators. Intrapersonal intelligence

Learn from failures If you're impulsive and dropped out of college once and you were not able to obtain a position you enjoy, by keeping this in the back of your mind as you complete the next lengthy report due, the work involved will seem well worth the effort it takes. "Impulsive individuals show a switching pattern, resisting current temptations if they recall having succumbed," according to researchers. "Both impulsive and non-impulsive people did a better job of resisting temptation when they recalled past instances of resisting temptation along with their reasons for resisting." Intrapersonal intelligence

Focus on the future "If we are feeling fresh, it's easy to focus on our goals and exert self-control. But when we've already tested the limits of our self-control, it's harder to keep going," the Agrawal and Wan explain. "This is when focusing on the big picture helps us to keep our eyes on the goal and push ourselves harder. In contrast, focusing on the immediate situation only emphasizes how we've already maximized the extent of our willpower and hinders self-control." By picturing myself on the stage to receive my diploma, I was able to stay up at night to complete all the research, analysis and writing necessary for my doctorate. Spatial intelligence

Play motivating music Music moves your brain waves and can change a mood. Play music you consider up-beat prior to times allotted to work on goal daily, and you'll be ready to make great strides on your goal. What's your first choice? Musical intelligence

What works for you? Name a strategy that helps you past "willpower" that sometimes fails. That will provide us a jump start for 2010!

Joy of ChoosingToys

Ever wonder why toys seem so segregated in stores? 'Pink and blue aisles" line most stores and there's no middle ground. Strict segregation separates boys' aisles from girls'. What if a girl wants a spaceship or a boy desires a kitchen set?

On the heels of hearing an NPR radio broadcast in which Dads raising families discussed the separation of toys in stores by pink and blue and the clear division between the two, I went into Hobby House Toys to purchase a card game for one of my grandsons. A wonderful integration of toys and games stimulates your senses - toys that you just do not see in the big stores, such as marble runs, games and toys from abroad. How refreshing!

All of this sparked memories and curiosity about toys and play as they impact learning and careers.

When I first came to the U.S. as a child, I admired electric trains on miniature tracks, rolling under Christmas trees. No doubt my trip across the United States by train, when I first arrived here as a child, stimulated this fascination for trains. Luckily my parents were not so restrictive that they told me these were "boy" toys, when I announced I wanted a train for Christmas. I do not think I was more pleased than when I received this gift... I know I played with it for hours on end, if I wasn't reading. My dolls found themselves on shelves because they seemed boring and I did not want to "mess them up" since they always looked so beautiful.

When one of my grandsons was about three, I asked what he wanted for Christmas. He told me that he wanted a doll so he could feed it a bottle of milk. When I considered his request, I thought it would not hurt for this little boy to be a "nurturer." His parents told me such a gift was fine with them. Someday, I expect he'll make a fine, loving Dad. Today he enjoys Star Wars computer games and playing t-ball. Another grandson told me he liked to play in the kitchen at his pre-school. He also loves Cars toys and puzzles. Seems like children who have a variety of toys will be more well-rounded as people? What are your thoughts?

Not too surprisingly, learning preferences in school connect to toys and play. Early toy preferences may point to later preferences in school achievement and ultimately professional choices, Becky Francis, professor of education at Roehampton University, London, says. "Girls tend not to enjoy traditionally masculine subjects, particularly science; boys still tend to outperform girls at higher-level maths," she writes. "I might suggest that if girls are inculcated into construction and technology via their play, as a form of entertainment, they may be inclined to feel these curriculum areas more familiar and less daunting/challenging."

But preferences for toys and play may be hard wired. "These early play preferences may not only be the result of socialization and marketing, however. A 2005 study looking at the play of young primates, by psychologist Professor Melissa Hines of Cambridge University, found that when offered a variety of toys, female monkeys tended to gravitate towards dolls and soft toys, while males chose toy cars."

Fellow blogger, Amy Jussel, is concerned about ways media shapes youth. She focuses on ways media to be used more as a tool for positive change.

What do you think about all this? How much do the toys we play with when young, guide our career choices or the kind of person we are today?

Blogging Opens New Learning Possibilities

Catch teens enjoying social media tools and help them gear that spark toward learning and growth! Since teens are savvy Internet users, it makes sense to have them interact with teens from other schools and experts in knowledge fields to enhance skills in high school subjects. As teens exchange knowledge, information and ideas with peers and others through weblog, they can stimulate literacy skills and higher cognitive thinking. Consider weblogs as the means...

Blogging helps encourage teen writing, according to a recent Pew Internet and American Life Project study. Interestingly according to the survey findings, 82 percent of students "believe that additional instruction and focus on writing in school would help improve their writing even further--and more than three-quarters of those surveyed think it would help their writing if their teachers used computer-based writing tools such as games, multimedia, or writing software programs or web sites during class." It makes sense then that teachers use blogs as a way to stir students' writing skills.

"For a group of my English literature students," teacher Will Richardson notes, "the latest buzz in educational technology began with bees. I had my class read The Secret Life of Bees (Penguin, 2003), then offered a new way to create dialog around the book with literary weblogs.

Richardson adds these insights about the success of using blogs....

The "blogs" are gaining traction in education as an online forum for classroom discussion, and to develop students' critical thinking, writing, and reading comprehension skills. Here at HCRHS, they have even more reach. For instance, my lit students created an online reader study guide for Bees, using the weblog format. In two years, the site Weblogs.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/bees has had more than 2 million hits, including a 2,300-word response from the book's author, Sue Monk Kidd.

The weblog traffic has since grown to encompass different students and schools, making it clear to our students that others are reading and learning from their work. This "sense of audience" gets students excited, and helps to facilitate discussion, debate, and participation, even among reticent students. Blogs also motivate students to become more engaged in reading, think more deeply about the meaning of their writing, and submit higher quality work.

Richardson advocates using blogging software for "advantages in control, security and functionality. We license Manila, a content management system from Userland.com (manila.userland.com). A $499 annual license lets us build as many blogs as our server can hold (up to 2,000), and we can navigate between an open audience (a blogging benefit), versus security and privacy (to keep our students safe)." While other brands are certainly available, teachers want to know possible options when security is an issue.

Blogging can improve student writing skills when teachers facilitate students to connect these meaningfully to content. "As students engage new tasks they enhance literacy skills," Rebecca Weinstein notes. Many texts can be used... such as magazine articles, book excerpts, poetry, news articles, recipes, song lyrics and others they locate. Even cartoons can represent bigger ideas. And today students can create digital videos on investigative themes.

Weblogs offer new opportunities in language teaching and create additional spaces to teach a target language beyond the classroom context. Some points which language teachers must consider (e.g. time devotion, students’ privacy, the Internet access, etc…), but it is nevertheless worth using the technology as an efficient way to promote autonomous learning in educational settings.

Amazing possibilities open in science through student weblogs. For instance,

Biopac Science Lab allows High School students to display, record, and analyze data from their own bodies. This approach promotes scientific inquiry and student participation and engages student minds to develop critical thinking skills through real and exciting lab experiences. The software includes a series of guided science lessons for students to record and analyze their own heart signals (ECG), brain waves (EEG), muscle activity (EMG), and eye movement (EOG). Lessons support national science standards and easily align with Biology textbooks. The system includes detailed lesson plans that guide the student through self-paced and independent investigative experiments.

Business administration, political science, journalism and philosophy are enriched through student experiences with weblogs according to recent research in the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. "Liberal learning depends on students taking responsibility for their education. Instructors in any discipline can use blogs to begin conversations about course materials before students arrive in the classroom and continue them long after a class has ended, thus fostering a sense of active learning both inside and outside the classroom," the researchers conclude.

Blogs are a means to enhance many many math skills in practical ways. "In math the emphasis has shifted from teaching rules and procedures," reflects Jamie Tubbs, "to helping students create their own understanding of the mathematics they are learning. To do this, students must be active and engaged, reasoning through problems, justifying answers, and communicating their understanding to others." Student blogs include...

Traditional writing activities such as journals, learning logs, and math autobiographies are all possible on a blog. But blogs also allow users to incorporate links, images, audio, video, spreadsheets, graphs, linear and nonlinear patterns into posts, increasing the potential for creative project-based learning.

Podcasting is just one way music students can enhance performance. Opportunities are open to add digital backgrounds to their performance. These can be shared online with a wider audience.

While many teachers may face teen disengagement in class due to too much teacher talk or boring PowerPoint presentations, student blogging with a focus in your subject area, is one possibility to engage and empower teens as they learn.

What lesson suggestions do you have for your subject area? Your ideas and suggestions will help start a tool chest for others.

What I Learned from Connecting Dots...

Combine two or more things together and you can produce something really good. Robert Hruzek

Robert, your quote shows the "stuff" from which genius derives. Probably that's why I love reading Middle Zone Musings so much! Robert Hruzek's current "What I Learned from" challenge is to show what we learned from seemingly unrelated things we experienced - which produced something good. I'm ready to give it a good whack!

Heroes and Pets... My husband and I have a pet cat, Ginger. We came by her in mysterious ways because she was a stray. And because we have warm hearts, we began to feed Ginger, and she found a new home in our big old horse barn. Ginger seemed to have several litters of kittens and somehow each time her belly became skinny again the kittens never materialized. But one day, when we happened to have our four grandsons and six other children visiting a most improbable event occurred. On our huge front porch, kids were playing and adults were sitting on benches and chatting. Suddenly, Ginger came over the porch rail and dropped a kitten at the feet of my daughter-in-law, who promptly began to pet it. Evidently Ginger thought that was safe enough so she went away and returned with a second kitten, and finally for a third time...

My grandsons fell in love with Ginger's kittens and their Mom consented they could have all three for pets. So Ginger was a hero since she rescued this set of kittens. We had Ginger neutered and she leads a much happier life now.

Planes and Relatives Since I came to the U.S. when very young, I deeply anticipated a first journey back to Australia, my native land, some 32 years later. I was accompanying my Mother on a trip back to see our family there. We first crossed the Pacific by boat to come to the U.S. and it was such a convenience to return by plane. We stopped in Honolulu at midnight and I can still catch the aroma of frangipani blossoms that filled the air around the airport's open observation deck. The glowing red sun, rising in the sky and reflecting hues on clouds, heightened glow happiness in my heart.

But when we arrived in Sydney, air traffic was congested so we circled for quite awhile. I could not believe amazing reconnections which surfaced when I saw the "Coathanger," Sydney Harbor Bridge and the beautiful beaches where I frolicked when young. Time seemed to reverse for me.

Before we knew it, we were in the arms of loving family. It was as if only moments had passed. Though we changed over the years, essential personalities... remain unchanged. The whole journey back, to reconnect with family and with my roots was one of the most incredible adventures in my life. Planes transport us to different worlds in very short periods of time - they open doors to possibility and adventure - and so do families - even more so!

Recreation and Children I've had some real adventures on the golf course and with children, too. The lesson here is to expect the unexpected. That's what makes each so special. I've had both a small alligator and snake cross the fairway in front of me. But one lesson I've learned is not to keep your eye on the ball [gloating about a good shot.] Golfers necessarily move ahead to keep the game progressing at a good pace, so you just don't dawdle after a shot. But once I tried both at the same time with more of an emphasis on watching the ball and I walked right into a tree. Yes! My focus was very sharp, but did me in! What a lesson that was.

Children also keep adventure in our lives. We never knew what our youngest son would come up with next. And one day in exasperation, my husband put his hands on his hips, looked down at our four year old son and said, "You're a little pill!" Our son had a very quick wit. As he put his hands on his hips mimicking his Dad, he retorted, "You're an aspirin." So with children you are often surprised that they have such amazing "comebacks," and I'm sure you have some to share, too.

Connections lead to interesting outcomes. Results take you aback when you put together two very different elements - in everyday life or a quick "fix it" to make things easier for your business clients.

To share lessons you've learned be sure to read Robert Hruzek's challenge for May to write on "mashed potatoes" and join the fun!

Children's Brains on Video Games and the Internet

Video games and the Internet directly affect children's brains! What exactly are the pros and cons of new technologies in children's' lives and how are they being shaped? Arun Rajagopal challenged me to add to his very well articulated post, Is Internet Good for Children?

Positives of the Internet and video games...

Saving the World, One Video Game at a Time Some video games are works of art designed to grapple with issues that tap teens' problem solving brain power in positive ways...

Video games, serious-games advocates say, also possess a persuasive element that is missing from books or movies: They let the player become a different person (at least for an hour or two), and see the world from a new perspective. When Mr. Burak first showed Peacemaker to Israelis and Palestinians, he found that they were most interested in playing as their own “side.” But when he pushed them to switch positions they developed a more nuanced sense of why the other side acted as it did. In Qatar several people told him that “they kind of understood more the pressures the Israeli prime minister has.”

Games like Peacemaker provide users much more than mindless fun, they can be a medium for change.

Video Games Help Develop Children's Brains

When children play video games, they "manage multiple objectives at the same time," according to Steven Johnson, who advocates non-violent games. Children learn to control resources and make split-second decisions throughout the game. Focus and attention is crucial.

James Gee, notes that children who play video games exhibit "fluid intelligence."

"They have to discover the rules of the game and how to think strategically," said James Paul Gee, a University of Wisconsin-Madison curriculum and instruction professor. "Like any problem solving that is good for your head, it makes you smarter."

Computer Games Help Autistic Children Recognize Emotions Interactive games, such as FaceSay™, give children with autism spectrum disorders practice recognizing facial expressions of an avatar, or software “puppet.” You'd be interested to know, these computer games teach children where to look for facial cues such as an eye gaze, a frown and other facial expressions.

Creating Web Sites Stimulates Literacy and Higher Cognitive Thinking

Teachers are using new curriculum, designed by Jennifer Stone, which introduces students to theories and methods of web design. And moving from theory to practical application, they plan and build a complex website. In the final or "informational" phase, each student selects a topic, conducts research to create articles on the topic theme. What's so important about this?

In addition to stressing the importance of planning, this medium foregrounds the role of revision in writing. When creating a website, it can be published immediately and changed at anytime. This is very different from other types of texts where the final product is final and changes require substantial investments of time, materials, and money. Revision is a key aspect of web-based writing, where authors constantly must adapt to ongoing audience feedback, new content, and changing technologies.

When students transfer ideas from one context to another, they tap into higher cognitive skills, those needed for today's businesses to be competitive.

Problems with the Internet and Video Games As They Shape Children's Minds

Video Games Teach Aggression

As children engage in an activity again and again, that learning's stored in the brain's basal ganglia. Repetition fosters learning... And so, as aggression helps children win video game contests, the behavior's programmed the child's brain.

"Should we therefore be surprised that violent video games could teach aggression to players," father and son researchers, J. Ronald and Doug Gentile ask. These games are more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor.

Teens Who Play Video Games Read Less and Do Less Homework

On school days, teen boys who play video games appear to spend less time reading and teen girls who play video games appear to spend less time doing homework than those who do not play video games, according to a report in the July, 2007 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine... Compared with non-video game--players, adolescents who played video games spent 30 percent less time reading and 34 percent less time doing homework.

Children hooked on video games, spend so much time playing that they fail to develop friendships, get appropriate outdoor exercise or suffer in their schoolwork according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Children Lack Important Cognitive Skills

Could this be a cause of a new trend showing that Americans read less frequently and less proficiently? Reading's important because it affects the brain physiologically... Three ingenious design principles come into play as we read, according to Maryanne Wolf, professor at Tufts University:

...the capacity to make new connections among older structures; the capacity to form areas of exquisitely precise specialization for recognizing patterns in information, and the ability to learn to recruit and connect information from these areas automatically.

To starve reading is to stunt cognitive skills needed beyond school... especially in college and the workplace.

Activities Shape Brains

Video game and Internet activities rewire children's and teen's brains for success or failure in school and beyond. Teachers and parents can guide children to make wise choices...

Arun, thanks for the challenge since it led me to dig deep and learn more on this very timely topic...

Thoughts?

What I Learned from Ellen Weber

Dr. Ellen Weber lives by risk, adventure and surprise. To work with her and witness her amazing brain in action's a challenge and fun wrapped in one bundle. Here's a few gems I've learned from Ellen...

1. Question... take nothing for granted. As I began to question, follow curiosity and see new possibilities, the quest for answers helped me learn and grow in ways I never thought possible.

2. Target... Ellen often asks me where I see myself five years down the road. If you get stuck in daily details, life can carry you along with no real purpose... Since I want to be a contributor to others, I see the big picture and set the plans to get there. By daily targets, and organizing priorities, I jot daily plans without losing sight of the overall vision...that you see in your mind's eye.

3. Expect... Dr. Weber often asks, What do you expect, anyway? Most people don't really have a clue so they can't guide others. Yet to expect is to see your finished product in living colors, shapes, sizes and animations. It offers the brain an advanced organizer and invites the mind to leap forward, to fill in the dots, and to create art and science for quality outcomes. At the MITA International Brain Based Center we often expect the moon, for instance, and it tends to come to our daily roundtables, in fine blue cheese pieces. What do you expect, anyway?

4. Move... Each person's born with eight intelligences. What we do with our gifts and talents can pave the way for a rich and satisfying career. Ellen encouraged me to ask, "How am I smart?" My first response was that I was not smart... I made that decision since I was not Valedictorian or Salutatorian of my class. Ellen helped me to see that intelligence involves so much more than what we previously thought and what a billion dollar test taking industry wants to keep in place. Intelligence is evidenced through problem solving skills, creativity, ability to organize and analyze, many of which are not truly tested because much ambiguity is involved and intelligence crosses disciplines. IQ's not fixed as "experts" once thought at the end of the 19th and early part of the 20th century when IQ tests were first formulated. Because of current neuroscience research, experts now view intelligence differently. The question is not "How smart are you? As Ellen saw through her university research, the question is... "How are you smart?"... and additionally, "Where are you headed with your gifts?"

5. Reflect... What worked and what didn't work... as I consider outcomes of my work, learn from mistakes and try new strategies, I continually grow and change. To reflect takes time and a positive approach to be the person I want to be - one who uses God-given gifts to the fullest extent.

When I visited Robert Hruzek's Middle Zone Musings today I was challenged to take on his mantra to share "What I learned from...." Since I keep growing and learning from Brain-based work experiences with Dr. Ellen Weber globally, it seemed natural to share nuggets of gold with Brain Based Biz community and visitors.

I've learned to live Ellen Weber's five MITA steps for growth and productivity for both work and personal life. Change happens as you live what you learn, not just nod your head and agree with an idea you read or hear. Learning takes courage and risk. Are you up to it?

So, where do you see yourself in five years?

A Luxury Tent opens my Window to the World!

Two-Footed Questions stir adventures in the mind. When Joanna Young asked, "Have you ever thought of your life as a building?" I hadn't. But her question helped me dream a little. Since the question opened a full range of possibilities , my thoughts soared, as if on a magic carpet. I wanted a structure that let me be a nomad, but provided luxury at the same time... So here's my building...

Exquisitely furnished luxury tents are designed for solitude and serenity. You easily fall asleep under the canopy of your tent [protected from insects and the like] and wake to your own private view of the sun rising over a breathtaking vista. A luxury tent best represents my architecture. Here's why...

A luxury tent opens flexibility I require in life. Since I'm a global citizen, a tent provides opportunities to both wander and wonder. Luxury takes the front seat because I don't like to "rough it." A luxury tent opens unmatched lifelong learning opportunities since I would be closer to the land and nature I love so much.

The framework of my tent's inspired by Rosa Say's principles of Joyful, Jubilant Learning:

Listen, Laugh, Learn, Link, Love, Live, and Leap to Wonder

Listen — welcome new ideas..., listening fully opened
Laugh — with positive and uplifting joy
Learn — with childlike curiosity
Link — use lessons learned as springboards, sharing knowledge freely
Love — tap into deep passion for learning from nature and others
Live — be a shining example of the Lifelong Learner; “Be the learner you want to see in the world”
Leap — to new experiences, stretching past the familiar, accepting leaps of higher intuition.

Does this tease your brain just a bit to choose a building to represent you? If so, please do consider yourself tagged for this meme. Robert Hruzek started the action so be sure to link to him and me and Bob'll compile all the contributions...

I'm tagging:

Jackie Cameron at awareness, choices, change

Anne at Brandsizzle

Anna at My Only Photo

Jim Walton at Black in Business

Steli Efti The Supercool Principal

Tags so far include:

Joanna Young at Confident Writing
Troy Worman at Orbit Now!
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
Dawud Miracle at Healthy Web Design
Pete Aldin at Great Circle
Brad Shorr at WordSell Inc
Emma Bird at HowToItaly
Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business
Laura at Writing Thoughts
Robyn McMaster at Brain Based Biz

OK, you now have the baton. Mull over the two-footed question.... What building best represents you? Dream a bit....