Grab A Bucket…

June 10, 2012 Walter Leave a comment

The idea of having a bucket list (things you are committed to doing during your life) has become more than popular–it’s nearly viral. Traditionally follks haven’t thought seriously about their life accomplishments until their mortality becomes real. Now I hear young people and kids talking about their bucket list.

Well, here’s another bucket idea that I think is extremely adaptable, practical, and useful. The idea is geared for kids — they get all the good stuff — but once you get the fundamentals, you can see it working in organizations, families, companies… The bucket represents your mental and emotional self. You fill your bucket with words and actions that demonstrate you care about somebody.

One adaption of this was made successfully by the Livermore Maine School Committee with an elementary school program to encourage positive behavior and make it a habit. A feature of the program is a literal bucket–when teachers and staff see a student “being nice” to someone they write the child’s name on a slip of paper and place it in the bucket. A monthly drawing means students receive recognition in the form of extra recess time, books, etc.

Back in my corporate consulting days, we used a similar approach with “something extra” coupons. Every employee was allowed to award a coupon to another employee for positive behavior that “went beyond” the norm. While coupons could be redeemed for lunch discounts, etc. we found that most people didn’t redeem them and kept theirs as trophies!

There are some great kids books about bucket filling–for information and resources visit the Bucket Filler Website. Put on your creative hat and see how your family could have a bucket… or just make it a personal habit of making sure you do something every day to fill your own bucket!

This idea was also posted on New England City and Town News Notes–a great site for news and ideas from around New England!

Personal Growth, Uncategorized

Slightly More Than 24 notes…

May 25, 2012 Walter Leave a comment

I guess I’ve heard “taps” played many times throughout my life… most of those occasions were at Memorial Day or Veterans’ Day Celebrations. While not all of the the times have been “perfect,” the sentiment always is and it seems to be one of the occasions when silence reins in the too thin crowds. For the duration we seem to become aware of the number of flags flying in the cemetery we visit on these special days.

Since many of us will be experiencing this Monday, here’s a little taps trivia. The original version of what we call “Taps” was written by Daniel Butterfield in 1801 and was then named “Last Post.” It was rather lengthy and formal so in 1862 it was shortened to 24 notes and re-named “Taps.”

The performance of the original version embedded here makes the rounds every so often… it has a lot to recommend it. For one thing it was performed in Holland by a reasonably popular trumpeter named Melissa Venema. At the time of this recording she was thirteen years old. It’s pretty powerful–turn off all distractions, listen and watch. You won’t hear a false note and you will be as mesmerized as the crowd who watches her perform with the Johann Strauss Orchestra under the capable direction of Andre Rieu.

And maybe you could think about attending a Memorial Day Event to hear it played again–perhaps not as well, but with just as much meaning.

Personal Growth, Teaching

Ten Commandments for Teachers

May 7, 2012 Walter 1 Comment

How could I not be interested in a site called “Brain Pickings?” (Brain Pickings is a human-powered discovery engine for interestingness, culling and curating cross-disciplinary curiosity-quenchers, and separating the signal from the noise to bring you things you didn’t know you were interested in until you are.) A recent post offered Ten Commandments for Teachers as offered by Bertram Russell in 1951. I’m not sure I’d limit these to teachers and I’m having a lot of trouble picking a personal favorite!

Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.

Learning, Personal Growth, Teaching

Practice Makes Perfect…

April 30, 2012 Walter Leave a comment

An interesting (and ongoing–this is nothing new, really) debate in the public education sector includes the role of “vocational” education. Meanwhile, some of us are still wondering what happened to “shop” and “home economics.” During one session at the recent Financial Literacy Summit I chuckled a bit when a speaker asked how many schools were providing “consumer science” courses. “Oh, you mean home ec?” The speaker went out to point out that she’d counseled a college student regarding his financial problems only to discover that he was eating every meal out because he didn’t know how to cook.

A recent study conducted in the UK asked what type of qualification or training would help young people succeed in their career. The answers came back: on the job training (93%), apprenticeships (90%) and internships (84%) topped the table compared to 78% who said degrees. Now I’m not minimizing the value of a college education–any education has value–nor am I trying to start a political debate. But whether we are talking about adult education courses of the public education system in America, there’s a lot to be said for integrating “hands on” learning. I’m sure I’m not the only one who remembers the response to students who announced they were studying for a liberal arts or some other esoteric degree: “You want fries with that?”

Education at any and all levels is not a “one size fits all” proposition. The following is an article about an article that appeared in the most recent issue of Training Doctor News.

Here is a really fascinating article (http://www.thenation.com/node/167476) comparing the standard United States educational system approach of getting everyone the same, basic, k-12 education and the more pragmatic approach of other nations such as Switzerland and the Netherlands. The impetus for the article was a perceived draw back of the Obama plan and the recent announcement to invest 1 billion dollars to increase the partnership between high schools, colleges and employers.

Here are just a few highlights, we recommend taking 5 minutes to read the whole article:

A draw back of the plan is that it is focused on post-high school, while in many Western European nations, the final years of high school are customized depending on whether the student is going to go on to college, go on to a technical school, or enter the workforce (in other words, preparing young adults for the workforce is addressed much earlier)
Currently, the (US) youth unemployment rate (26 years and under) is 22%; in the Netherlands the youth unemployment rate is 5%.
In the United States, only 20% of 26-year-olds have a credential of some type.
The Swiss government analyzes business needs and the skills required to achieve those needs and plans for government sponsored schooling to feed the needs of business; in the US there are just a few non-profit organizations that bridge between the three: government, schooling and business.

Nancy Hofmann, author of the book, Schooling in the Workplace, is quoted in the article as saying: [in the US] “We behave as though nobody needs to learn to work. We behave as if somehow education alone will launch you into a career.”

Learning, Personal Growth

Discuss this with yourself…

April 24, 2012 Walter Leave a comment

I just finished reading an article about “Electronic Overload.” The article encouraged me to determine whether or not it was time for me to get disconnected by asking myself a series of questions. (I kinda hoped the article would suggest feeling compelled to read it mean I needed to disconnect.)

At the same time, the article suggested that a need to be constantly connected to Facebook, Twitter, etc. has become the “new norm” whereby we feel compelled to keep up with our 813 Facebook Friends’ Daily travails, food choices, game scores, and assorted other drama. So I’m not sure if I was being encouraged to disconnect or understand that this is the way life now happens.

Since I had just spent my daily fifteen minutes of Facebook time prior to reading the article, I could relate. When I closed Facebook I found myself actually chuckling over some of the things I’d learned. I suppose I could list some here, but I’m not going to risk embarrassing people. Suffice it to say that I’m not sure I gained much by knowing where people partied last night, what quotes they liked and shared, what music they were listening to…

Okay, the latest picture of a nephew was really cute… and having occasional contact with relatives and friends quite literally around the world is sorta neat. Many of these connections are ones I wouldn’t otherwise have. But like all good things, there’s a flip side to this. Our species seems to have difficulty with moderation.

I recently had a conversation (in real-time on the phone, not online) with a friend (A) who reported some difficulties with a mutual acquaintance (B) who “usually gets things done,” but has been unresponsive of late and is creating some difficulty as a result. A quick check of Facebook yields lots of reports of B’s game achievements and at least one request for me to “connect” and join in. Do you suppose there is a correlation? Is B somebody who should perhaps occasionally disconnect?

On a slightly different track, another friend sent me a link via email to a site with a cartoon she was quite sure I’d enjoy. In my reply to her, I noted that she created a bit of “lost time” for me this morning as I couldn’t resist poking through some of the others. It was in the course of doing that I encountered one that instructed: “Discuss this with yourself.” Now that’s a concept that deserves some exploration. For students who attend classes I teach, you can be assured you’ll occasionally hear that.

So here’s the deal. I’m not going to ask you to discuss whether or not you need a little disconnect from electronic media. Many of you already know you do. I am going to ask you to discuss your priorities with yourself. That might include a hard look at your Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc. activity… if you can be objective about what you see, it will show you where your priorities are in practice. If you can’t be objective (an admittedly difficult assignment–we’re better at rationalizing our behavior than analyzing it), at least discuss with yourself what you think your priorities are. Then discuss with yourself if your connections and habits match your priorities.

Walter Boomsma (“Mr. Boomsma”) writes on a wide array of topics including personal development, teaching and learning. Course information is also available here!