When it’s all too much:
lie down, place hands on rib cage
breathe deeply…in…out…
Breath
Personal Success
Challenge (Almost) Complete!
Productivity Tip
Since I’ve turned off all my notifications on my cell phone, I’ve become a lot more productive and less reactive:
- I read emails when I am prepared to, not because my phone blings;
- I focus on writing quality blog posts and creating art, and refrain from checking stats; and
- I’m far less distracted in general and my productivity has increased by at least 40%.
Bliss of Solitude
Nature teaches us how to be quiet and calm.
*from William Wordsworth’s poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
My favorite lines are the last three:
Which is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils.
Risk Factors in Learning
How Children Succeed by Paul Tough
[a summary of pages 1 – 20]
ACE Score (Adverse Childhood Experiences) – A risk factor assessment for identifying childhood traumatic incidences. This score provides a probability factor for academic success/failure (as well as life success). You can take the quiz here.
There is evidence that scoring high on ACE can prove detrimental for life, even if the “victim” does not engage in any self-destructive behavior.
One shocking statistic: “ACE scores of 6 were 30x more likely to attempt suicide than ACE scores of 0.”
Funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars and replacing teaching and administrative staff are not successful strategies for improving schools. Take Fenger High School in Chicago, for example. They tried every possible strategy from replacing staff to creating a technology program. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation even financed them with a $21 million grant. Two years later, little to no results.
What works? Well, stay tuned. I will post summaries of my research every Sunday afternoon.
What Happened?
Recently, I (wo)manned a booth at our school’s International Festival. We were making maracas using empty toilet paper rolls, duct tape and (uncooked) beans and rice. Kids of all ages and sizes came to make their maracas.
After just one hour, I realized something: six and seven-year-old girls came up confidently and chose their colors without hesitation. “I want blue! And red! And green!” They taped their rolls, scooped up rice, taped again and smiled radiantly.
Teenage girls, however, hemmed and hawed, wracked with indecision. “Ummmmm. I dunno. I dunno what to choose! Ummmm…” It took them far longer to decide and even after they decided, they second-guessed their decisions and did not seem entirely happy with their results.
What happens to girls?
Bird Brain or Bird on the Brain?
True Freedom
We believe the “right” amount of money will afford us freedom.
We believe that being 100% safe will make us free.
But what will really give you freedom is complete acceptance of reality and even looking forward to your “fears” coming true.
When you practice dread, you practice imprisonment.
When you welcome everything, you liberate yourself.
*creativebug.com (Lisa Congdon)
You Can’t…
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life
Hustle
You want it. You work for it. You fail to secure it.
You still want it. You work again. No go.
You’re persevering! You’re trying! What’s wrong?
Perhaps it’s time to create it yourself?
