If I Knew Then: A Letter to Me on My First Day of Teaching. The Best Teacher Resources For “TED Talks” (& Similar Presentations) I’ve written several posts recently about TED Talks, and thought I’d pull together a short list of resources that would be helpful to other teachers (and me) as we consider how to use them most effectively in our classes.
I’m going to start off with a quote from their website explaining what these “things” are: “TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). How to Deal with Unfairness and Change the Things You Can. Birth and Death. Peace Is Learning the Lesson. “No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.”
~Buddha It’s strange to feel peace while a part of your heart is being chipped away. I’m in the middle of a heart chipping, but the longer it goes on, the more I’m realizing that it needs to be removed before it hardens the rest of the organ. Maybe the chipping is kind of like pruning a diseased tree so the remainder grows stronger and more resilient. The cuts hurt like hell though. The last few months have been some of the most difficult of my life. Why You Have 43 More Choices That Matter in Life (or Not)
“Life is the sum of all your choices.”
~Albert Camus Ever wondered what might have been? Ever thought about where and who you’d be if only you’d done something differently, gone somewhere else, chosen something or someone else? Probably so, if you’re like most. A Letter from Your Calling. “Every calling is great when greatly pursued.”
~Oliver Wendell Holmes It’s me. The one who keeps talking to you about that thing. That project. That possibility. What We Pay Attention To. “Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.”
~Jose Ortega y Gassett. 10 Reasons To Quit Your Job Right Now! The game is over.
Mission Statement For Life. 20 Bad Habits Holding Good People Back. Be a Master of Where You Are Now. “Have respect for yourself, and patience and compassion.
With these, you can handle anything.” How to Rewire Your Burned-Out Brain: Tips from a Neurologist. For many of you in the northern hemisphere, the school year is coming to a close, and with it comes a likely drop in the stressors that build up and promote teacher (and administrator) burnout.
It therefore may not seem timely to suggest interventions to prevent or reduce burnout. However, it is often not until we are away from a high-stress situation for a while that the brain can move out of reactive survival mode and into a relaxed state where it can ponder the big picture. The burnout interventions I am about to suggest are likely to be ones that you already know. The problem is, when it comes to adding another activity to your schedule, past experiences may have left you with the expectation that there is not enough time -- or you've tried things like this before and didn't notice any change. Are You Shut Down and Disconnected? “When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another—and ourselves.”
~Jack Kornfield I had to work on Easter at my job in a coffee shop. I missed out on my family’s big holiday party, and I struggled with quite a bit of resentment about the whole deal. I could have gotten someone to cover for me, but because I’m one of the more experienced employees and we were short-staffed, I was told that I needed to work. I wasn’t too terribly happy. I was amazed at how unforgiving people were. Getting Back Your Belief in Yourself. “When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find ways to do it.”
~Dr. David Schwartz Fifteen months ago I was in a rut. A rather large rut actually. 12 inspirational blog posts! Push Beyond Your Limits. Google's Chade-Meng Tan Wants You to Search Inside Yourself for Inner (and World) Peace. Chade-Meng Tan (widely known as Meng) was among the earliest engineers to be hired at Google. He and his team worked on ways to improve the quality of the site’s search results and also played a key role in the launch of mobile search. When Google allowed engineers to spend 20% of their time pursuing their passion, Meng decided to spend his time on a cause dear to his heart: Launching a conspiracy to bring about world peace. The conspirators could well be called the compassionati.
Meng believes that world peace can be achieved — but only if people cultivate the conditions for inner peace within themselves. Inner peace, in turn, comes from nurturing emotional intelligence through the practice of mindfulness and meditation. Meng then decided to open-source the SIY program by making its principles and components available to companies everywhere. The first part of the edited transcript of the conversation appears below. The spark behind creating SIY was my desire for world peace. 12 Most Genius Questions in the World by Angela Maiers. One of the things I love most about being around young children, is their passionate and fierce sense of curiosity. It defines their genius. Why is the sky blue? Who discovered the world? How did the sun get so hot? John Stanley: Buddha Nature and the Divided Brain. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a world that honors the servant, but has forgotten the gift. --Albert Einstein Except in the light of brain hemisphere lateralization, nothing in human psychology makes any sense. Fuel Your Dreams with Simple Daily Habits. “A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.” ~Proverb My name is Katie and I am an over-planner.
I spend way too much time laying out meticulous plans as if they were exquisite bejeweled gowns. Love Over Tolerance. Love Over Tolerance Tolerance. Every time I hear that word directed at a child, an adult, a group of people, or any person at all, I cringe. Choosing to Create Happiness. 12 Things You Should Be Able to Say About Yourself. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. – Mae West. 5 Beliefs That Will Ensure You Never Achieve Success. Each and every successful entrepreneur I’ve ever worked with has one thing that sets them apart from everyone else. They have a set of beliefs that cause them to be willing to do the right things at the right time to achieve that next level of success. Contrast that with a growing pool of people who are stuck, frustrated and constantly overwhelmed in their pursuit of success.
Believe That You Are Strong. Applied Ethics in Education - Thich Nhat Hanh. Are Things Happening For You or Against You? Be More Creative Today. I recently shared with college creative thinking students a short RSA Animate video by Ken Robinson titled " Changing Education Paradigms . " In the talk, Robinson argues that our current education system stifles and anesthetizes creativity. Because half of this particular classroom of engineering students will graduate at the end of the term, I asked them to talk about the impact of the last sixteen years of education on their own creative thinking.
The resulting discussion was eye-opening. Simple Tips and Reminders about Living in the Now. “If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.” 40 Photo-Illustrated Questions to Refocus Your Mind. Asking the right questions is the answer… It’s not the answers you get from others that will help you, but the questions you ask of yourself. Here are 40 thought-provoking questions to help you refresh and refocus your thinking: Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
Stop Thinking So Much. Refill Your Glass: A Simple Way to Make the Most of Yourself. 3 Lies to Eliminate to Start Living Up to Your Potential. Using the Hours We Have. Choose to Be Here.