Review of The Element

Below is an early review of Ken Robinson's book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, which is due out in early January 2009. He has re-defined his work from a focus on creativity to one of fully developing "human capacity", making the argument for the importance of actualizing one's fullest potential.

"One of the keys in finding a life of fulfillment and happiness is finding that work and interest that matches with one's strengths and abilities. Sir Ken Robinson weaves together stories, research and personal insight to illustrated the importance of developing one's human capacity to its fullest potential. And, for adults, especially those in education by virture of being a parent, teacher, or administrator, it is crucial for the health and well-being of our society to guide children to developing to their fullest capacity and thus helping them find joy in their lives. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the intersection of happiness, education, creativity, and the quality of our society. It is much more reader friendly and provocative than his first book, Out of Our Minds. This topic of human potential will easily occasion another infamous TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson. If you haven't see his first TEDtalk, it is a must!"

Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has worked with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world's leading cultural organizations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999.

He speaks to audiences throughout the world on the creative challenges facing business and education in the new global economies. Commenting on his latest book, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, John Cleese says: "Ken Robinson writes brilliantly about the different ways in which creativity is undervalued and ignored in Western culture and especially in our educational systems."

For twelve years, he was Professor of Education at the University of Warwick in the UK and is now Professor Emeritus. He has received honorary degrees from the Open University and the Central School of Speech and Drama; Birmingham City University and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. He was been honored with the Athena Award of the Rhode Island School of Design for services to the arts and education; the Peabody Medal for contributions to the arts and culture in the United States, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Royal Society of Arts for outstanding contributions to cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2005 he was named as one of Time/Fortune/CNN's Principal Voices. In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the arts.

His new book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, will be published in January 2009.

Sir Ken Robinson's website

Sir Ken Robinson: Creatively Speaking Part 1

Sir Ken Robinson has become a very important figure in the independent school world as well s the education world. He speaks to teachers and school leaders imploring them to rethink what we are educating children for and how we are doing that. He believes that schools are failing miserably at preparing kids for places in the Creative Age, and that their Industrial Age education, which is the model most schools operate from, is actually doing them a disservice.

Sir Ken talks directly to teachers at the Apple Summit on creativity and teaching:
Creatively Speaking Part One

TEDtalk: Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson's TEDtalk: Do schools kill creativity?

Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says.

He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements.

Sir Ken Robinson: Creativity in Education Part 2

Again, from the Apple Summit on Education:

Creativity in Education Part Two

Sir Ken Robinson Podcast

Mediasnackers Podcast #88: Sir Ken Robinson

This podcast discusses how to cultivate creativity and how to talk to children properly.

TED - A World of Learning

If you don't know about TED, then this will be greatly exciting for you. TED is amazing. Since 1984 people interested in ideas have been converging in Monterrey, California to share and learn from one another. Participants pay to have this opportunity and each of their presentations is strictly limited to 20 minutes.

In June 2008 TED passed an important milestone: 50 million TED talks viewed worldwide, nearly half of them outside the U.S. To keep pace with demand, TED is now releasing a new talk every weekday. One to watch is Boston Philharmonic conductor Benjamin Zander, who was a huge hit at 2008 TED conference.

To celebrate two years and 50 million TED talks, TED released for the first time the list of the Top 10 TED talks (below). These are the talks that have proven most popular over time, and -- interestingly -- they mainly feature speakers who were little-known before their talk was released. The most popular talk, viewed 2 1/2 million times and counting, features neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor, who observed her own stroke while it was happening.

Watch the Top 10 Talks highlights video >>

Top 10 TEDTalks of all time
1. Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight
2. Jeff Han's touchscreen foreshadows the iPhone and more
3. David Gallo shows underwater astonishments
4. Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos Photosynth
5. Arthur Benjamin does "mathemagic"
6. Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity
7. Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen
8. Tony Robbins asks why we do what we do
9. Al Gore on averting a climate crisis
10. Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks

Who owns TED

TED is owned by The Sapling Foundation, a private nonprofit foundation, a 501(c)3 organization under US tax code. It was established in 1996 by Chris Anderson, who was at that time a magazine publishing entrepreneur. The goal of the foundation is to foster the spread of great ideas. It aims to provide a platform for the world's smartest thinkers, greatest visionaries and most-inspiring teachers, so that millions of people can gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world, and a desire to help create a better future. Core to this goal is a belief that there is no greater force for changing the world than a powerful idea. Consider:

• An idea can be created out of nothing except an inspired imagination.
• An idea weighs nothing.
• It can be transferred across the world at the speed of light for virtually zero cost.
• And yet an idea, when received by a prepared mind, can have extraordinary impact.
• It can reshape that mind's view of the world.
• It can dramatically alter the behavior of the mind's owner.
• It can cause the mind to pass on the idea to others.

Sir Ken Robinson at NAIS 2008

Sir Ken Robinson was one of the keynote speakers at the National Association of Independent Schools Annual Conference in New York last year.

Sir Ken Robinson at NAIS.

His message is that creativity should be valued as a critical skill in our school systems. It is not really a priority. Why not? If we are committed to preparing our children for the future in the 21st century, which we have identified as largely unknowable and highly different from the decades of the 50s, 60s, 70, and 80s, then why is it so crazy an idea that our educational systems need to rethink themselves?

One's capacity for imagination and creativity is fundamental to our future, as individuals and as schools.

Stanford Professor William Damon to Speak at GSL

Tuesday, November 11, 7:00 p.m., Grace-St. Luke's Sanctuary
free and open to the public (bring a friend)
Book signing
SACs credit

William Damon, author of The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling in Life, will speak at Grace-St. Luke's School on Tuesday, November 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary on the corner of Peabody and Belvedere. Damon is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, the director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and a professor of education at Stanford University. His current research explores how people develop character and a sense of purpose in their work, family, school, and community relationships. He examines how young people can approach their careers with a focus on purpose, self-understanding, imagination, and high standards of excellence. Damon also has written widely about how to educate for ethical understanding.

It is with great intention that Grace-St. Luke's invites Dr. Damon to speak about his book The Path to Purpose. This school year at Grace-St. Luke's will focus on helping each child start the process of understanding themselves as learners, with each child engaging in intentional programs and processes to discover their strengths, their learning style, and how to use this awareness to become strategic learners. Damon's work furthers the discussion to include how parents and teachers can use a child's self awareness and understanding as a platform to guide them to a sense of purpose, mission, calling or passion early in life. Finding a passion or calling early, Damon postulates, thereby gives a child a lens or powerful sense of meaning to the whole education journey.

About William Damon

William Damon is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, the director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and a professor of education at Stanford University. His current research explores how people develop character and a sense of purpose in their work, family, school, and community relationships. He examines how young people can approach their careers with a focus on purpose, self-understanding, imagination, and high standards of excellence. Damon also has written widely about how to educate for ethical understanding.

Damon's most recent books are Taking Philanthropy Seriously: Beyond Noble Intentions to Responsible Giving (2006); The Moral Advantage: How to Succeed in Business by Doing the Right Thing (2004); and Noble Purpose: The Joy of Living a Meaningful Life (2003). Earlier books include Bringing in a New Era in Character Education (2002); Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet (2001); The Youth Charter (1997); Greater Expectations: Overcoming the Culture of Indulgence in Our Homes and Schools (1995); and The Moral Child (1990).

Damon is editor-in-chief of The Handbook of Child Psychology, fifth and sixth editions (1998 and 2006). He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education.

Damon has received awards and grants supporting his research from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the John Templeton Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Before coming to Stanford in 1997, Damon was a professor of education and University Professor at Brown University, where he continues to hold an appointment as an adjunct professor of human development. From 1973 to 1989 Damon held a variety of academic positions at Clark University and, in 1988, was a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Puerto Rico. Damon received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. He is married and has three children.

Damon in Independent School magazine

Here is the link to Dr. Damon's cover article in Independent School magazine. Of course, in the spring I had no idea that Dr. Damon would be featured in Independent School magazine, but I am thrilled that he is. This makes GSL look really smart and timely, on our game.

In this article, Damon addresses the issue of student disengagement, which he deems as one of the most pressing problems in education today. And, he says, the problem is "not confined to disadvantaged neighborhoods, failing schools, or poorly-run classrooms." Dr. Damon contends that "even in the most privileged schools, there are students who find little meaning in the work they are expected to do." These student do their work dutiful and to high accolade, but Dr. Damon's research proves that they are at great risk for burnout when a sense of purpose is missing.
How can we more consistently remember to paint the big picture for our students, explicitly drawing the threads/connections from the lessons to their interests in life? Can we do a better job at making education relevant? Is it worth the effort?

(Dr. Damon says the more interested a kid, the more engaged he or she is, and the more engaged, the better he or she behaves and the more they learn, the more skills he or she develops. He says that moral behavior follows a sense of purpose.)

Damon's Advice for Parents and Teachers

What do I want to be when I grow up? Children ask this, but do we really help them use this question to become the person they imagine themselves in the future? Do we help them become people who love what they do and find a sense of lasting satisfaction from the contribution they are making to the world? William Damon, in his
new book, The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling In Life, gives specific steps for parents and teachers to support kids in becoming who and what they want to be when they grow up.

In his studies of where a sense of purpose in life comes from, Dr. Damon identifies a set of factors that are crucial. His recommendation is that parents and teachers become more mindful of these factors in the day-to-day moments in order to help guide children to find their calling. A calling, he defines as that "fit" between what one is good at, what one enjoys, and what excites and excites the more we delve deeper. His suggestions are not difficult or complicated. With a little mindfulness, these can be woven into many interactions we have with chldren and students. (from chapter 6, "Parenting for Purpose")

1) Listen closely for the spark, every child has one. Fan the flames
2) Take advantage of regular opportunities to open a dialogue
3) Be open-minded and supportive of the sparks of interests expressed
4) Convey your own sense of purpose and the meaning you derive from your work
5) Impact wisdom about the practicalities in life
6) Introduce children to possible mentors
7) Encourage an entrepreneurial attitude
8) Nurture a positive attitude. Avoid cynicism at all costs
9) Instill in children a feeling of agency (a sense of their own power and capability) and link this to responsibility.

The Path to Purpose Website

Here is the link to Dr. Damon's The Path to Purpose webpage

Using A Whole New Mind

In February of 2008, Tom Beazley and I presented a three-hour workshop and a separate one-hour presentation about how Grace-St. Luke's School has used Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind as a way to systematize deep inquiry and innovation in the school culture. Grace-St. Luke's, like most other schools, is diligently working to define what being a 21st century relevant school means. Based on the NAIS presence, we were invited to speak on this topic at the annual conferences of SAIS and TAIS. Here is the SAIS 2008 presentation:

From Whole New Mind SAIS 2008.pptx

Daniel Pink on YouTube

21st Century Standards

If we value them, we will learn to foster them and measure them. This article from Education Week, "States Press Ahead on '21st Century Skills'" by Catherine Gewertz tells about what some schools are doing.

21st Century Survival Skills

The work of Thomas Friedman and Daniel Pink does a great job in providing evidence that a new world, one that is fast and dynamic, is here to stay. They make the case that we indeed have experienced a massive paradigm shift to a global, interconnected, technology-driven way of communicating and interacting as people and as organizations. As a result, all types of individuals and organizations are struggling to respond and stay in sync, to remain relevant. Some do this willy nilly and others are trying to devise plans such as personal learning plans, organizational learning plans, or sustainability plans. The basis for these plans is this question: What will it take to survive in a new, fast, flat world?

A recent article in ASCD, "Rigor Redefined" by Tony Wagner, outlines 7 critical survival skills for us, as adults, trying to be in sync and us, as teachers, charged with preparing students for their challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. It is worth assessing where we are in relation to these skills:

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration and Leadership
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination

How are we further evolving these skills in ourselves?
How are we explicitly teaching these skills to our students?

About Daniel Pink

Daniel H. Pink is the author of a three provocative books on the changing world of work.

His first book was Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working For Yourself. This book chronicled the phenomenon of people choosing to work as free agents instead of as corporate employees. Pink traveled coast to coast, interviewing people forging the way as free agents.

His newest work is The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need, the first American business book in the Japanese comic format known as manga. This book is interesting because of the visual format and the cult-like following it has created. I will post a synopsis of this book, too.

Before that, Pink wrote A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, a long-running New York Times and BusinessWeek bestseller that has been translated into 16 languages.

Dan's articles on business and technology appear in many publications, including the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a contributing editor. He has provided analysis of business trends on CNN, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and other networks in the U.S. and abroad. He also lectures to corporations, associations, and universities around the world on economic transformation and the new workplace.

A free agent himself, Dan held his last real job in the White House, where he served from 1995 to 1997 as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. He also worked as an aide to U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich and in other positions in politics and government.

He received a BA, with honors, from Northwestern University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a JD from Yale Law School. To his lasting joy, he has never practiced law.

Dan lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and their three children.

Pink in a Nutshell

Daniel Pink's book is worth reading. It will broaden your life personally and professionally, regardless of the profession you are in. I like this book immensely for its usefulness because it is easy to read. It convincingly makes the argument that the world is permanently different and if you want to be relevant and competent in the whole new world, it is pretty simple: you need whole new skills in addition to the ones you have. Pink bundles these skills as a whole new mind. Here is the skeletal outline of the entire book:

Brief Historical Context

Pink gives a historical overview of the four major 'ages':

1. Agricultural Age (farmers)
2. Industrial Age (factory workers)
3. Information Age (knowledge workers)
4. Conceptual Age (creators and empathizers)

This is significant for educators for a few reasons. We teach this outline. But, we kinds of trail off shy of teaching the Information Age yet we have all lived through the information age. We all remember the first time we used a computer, the first time we emailed, learning what google was, and shopping online for the first time etc. Now, we do all these things and more all the time -- it is the completely new normal. But, we may not be in touch with the nuance of how the information age has evolved into a cultural search for making meaning of all of the information available to us. Pink helps point out that new Conceptional Age, which others also right about but call by other names like The Experiential Age or the Transformative Age. Understanding and actively participating in The Conceptual Age is where Pink focuses and believed businesses can completely distinguish themselves.

Part I of Pink's Argument: The Three A's

Three major forces are influencing all business in the current economy:

Asia (everything that can be outsourced, is)

Automation (computerization, robots, technology, processes).

Abundance (consumers have too many choices, nothing is scarce)

Pink does not dwell on this, or really even explicitly address it, but education is very much included in the businesses that are being changed by these current forces.

We have to ask three crucial questions for our continued success (our sustainability):

1. Can a computer do it faster or better?
2. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
3. Is what I'm offering have meaning in an age of abundance?

Part 2 of Pink's Argument: Six Essential Senses

To distinguish ourselves in this environment, we need additional tools in our toolbox. These two are creative tools compared to our well honed logical tools. Pink calls these his six essential senses:

1. Design - not just function.
   
2. Story - not just argument.
   
3. Symphony - not just detail focus.
4. Empathy - not just logic.
   
5. Play - not just seriousness.
   
6. Meaning - not just accumulation.

That's the whole book in a nutshell.

So what? Why does this matter to me as a person, as a parent, as a professional educator?

Oprah Loves Dan Pink

Oprah is featuring Dan Pink on a webcast series. Follow this link for listening, viewing, and reading options.

Read The Intro

Also on Oprah's website you can read an excerpt from A Whole New Mind. The intro gives an overview and case for developing additional tools, right brain tools, to add to your toolbox for better navigation and survival in the 21st century.

Oprah's Commencement Speech at Stanford

Oprah gave the entire 2008 graduating class of Stanford a copy of two books: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and......A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.

I fell in love with this book in April of 2006, not having an idea how big it would become. But, to me, it was timely and made perfect sense for where we are in the world today. The leadership team of Grace-St. Luke's spent a full year investigating the "six senses" that Dan Pink offers as lenses for inquiry into the opportunity and challenges of the 21st century. I facilitated 6 all day workshops with an expert in each sense and many innovative ideas resulted from this collective learning. Personally, I have delved deeply into the portfolio section of the book and I highly recommend doing that to develop new awarenesses and skills in the "six senses."

Watch Oprah's commencement address at Stanford
download GSL's NAIS 2008 Presentation "Developing a Whole New Mind At Your School"

Daniel PInk Podcasts

Any one of these podcasts are worth listening to and will give you a good overview of Daniel Pink's ideas:

Daniel Pink in interviewed by Alan November

Daniel Pink with Alan November re: School Design

Daniel Pink Econtalk Lecture -- basic overview of his work (about one hour)

Daniel Pink with CEORead -- they talk about how to stay abreast and keep up (37 minutes)

Dan Pink Video Interview

This short video interview will give you some idea of how Pink's themes relate to education. The main thing to remember is that left brain skills are essential but not sufficient.
eSchool News: TechWatch interview with Daniel Pink

What does that really mean: left brain skills are essential but not sufficient?

Who Wins The Future?

Below is the first paragraph of A Whole New Mind. Pink is able in these three sentences to illustrate how routine tasks perfected by knowledge workers are giving way in this flat world to people who can combine left-brained analytical skills with his new six senses because the level of creativity and synthesis that the Conceptual Age requires is not outsourceable.

So, do we believe this? How can we develop those right brain skills in ourselves and in our students?

"The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind -- computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind – creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers. These people – artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers – will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest rewards."

Meaning Links

not just accumulation, but Meaning

How do we use Meaning as a lens in working with students, parents, peers, and for ourselves?

Meaning Links on Delicious

Play Links

not just seriousness, but Play

How do we use Play as a lens in working with students, parents, peers, and for ourselves?

Play Links on Delicious

Empathy Links

not just logic, but Empathy

How do we use Empathy as a lens in working with students, parents, peers, and for ourselves?

Empathy Links on Delicious

Symphony Links

not just argument, but Symphony

How do we use Symphony as a lens in working with students, parents, peers, and for ourselves?

Symphony Links on Delicious

Story Links

not just facts, but Story

How do we use Story as a lens in working with students, parents, peers, and for ourselves?

Story Links on Delicious

Design Links

not just function, but Design

How do we use Design as a lens in working with students, parents, peers, and for ourselves?

Glenn Malone, a Pink devotee and public high school principal has put together weblinks in Delicious for all of the items Daniel Pink mentions in the portfolio section for each sense. If you are interested in further developing this skill for yourself, these are good ways to go about doing that.

Design Links on Delicious

about Delicious and other social bookmarking tools -- follow this link to watch a short explanatory video that explains how Delicious and other social bookmarking tools work

Pink and Friedman

The World is Flat became a phenomenon enjoying tremendous
readership and intellectual heft around the world. Since 2005 readers have urged Thomas Friedman to expand the book. Readers expressed deep interest in knowing about how education systems were adapting to the flat world. Friedman is not stranger to education: his wife is a long-time public school teacher in suburban Maryland and his daughter is a first-year teacher in Washington, D.C. The updates in The World is Flat 3.0, were mostly about education and the type of education and learning that our kids will need to be competitive in the marketplace.

Read this article from The School Administrator February 2008: Daniel Pink interviews Thomas Friedman about his new edition.

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko

Daniel Pink's newest book is The Adventure of Johnny Bunko The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need.

Here is the book's message:

Many people work jobs that they don't like and are not well-suited for out of guilt, obligation, and not knowing what else to do. Many people ride the waves of what their job gives them instead of creating and designing their own destiny. People of 35+ years old were conditioned by their parents and culture to go to college, study something practical like accounting, and get a job. There was never any discussion about what you enjoyed or what you were good at. These people can be pretty miserable in mid-life. Through a magic chopstick genie, Johnny Bunko, the book's hero, is told 6 lessons that define the reality of life today.

Here are those six lessons:

1) There is no plan. All the planning and positioning we did with our parents years ago is irrelevant and you can make yourself sick if you are still living by it in an unintentional and unexamined way. There is no plan or map of the future. There is only opportunity for which you make good or bad decisions. The opportunities are not metered to you in a logical way. Logic is not necessarily your best tool in charting a course for the future.

"It is a fantasy to think that you can map out every step ahead of time and end up where you want. The world changes. Ten years from now, your job might be in India. Your industry might not even exist. And, you'll change, too. You might discover you have a hidden talent. If you try to stick to the plan even though you have realized that it is dumb, you will be miserable."

"Instead you need to make smart choices. You can make career decisions for two different types of reasons. You can do something for instrumental reasons, because you think it is going to lead to something else, regardless of whether you enjoy it or it is worthwhile. Or, you can do something for fundamental reasons, because you think it's inherently valuable, regardless of what it may or may not lead to... Instrumental reasons usually don't work. Things are too complicated, too unpredictable. You never know what's going to happen, so you end up stuck. The most successful people make decisions for fundamental reasons. They take a job or join a company because it will let them do interesting work in a cool place, even if they don't know exactly where it will lead. (They follow their heart.)"

2) Think Strengths, not weaknesses. Study the work of Martin Seligman (learned optimism) and Marcus Buckingham (strengths assessment) and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (flow).

"The research shows that the key to success is to steer around your weaknesses and focus on your strengths. Successful people don't try too hard to improve what they're bad at. They capitalize on what they are good at. What you do well gives you energy and creates flow. Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full of involvement, and success in the process of the activity." (Edward Hallowell talks at length about this in Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness.)

3) It's not about you. Steer clear of people for whom everything is all about them. No one cares. Businesses are mission-driven and you are not the mission.

"It's not about you. It's about your customer, it's about your client. Use your strengths, yes, but you are here to serve, not to self-actualize. Your projects are about advancing the mission in service to the customers and clients."

You matter and you are uniquely talented and important, that is why they gave you the job.

"The most successful people improve their own lives by improving others' lives. They help their customer solve its problem. They give their client something it didn't know it was missing. That's where they focus their energy, talent, and brainpower. Outward - not inward."

"The most valuable people in any job bring out the best in others. They make their boss look good. They help their teammates succeed."

"Pull your head out of you ego, sit down, and get back to work."

4) Persistence trumps talent every time. (mindset/Carol Dweck - about the process, not the outcome. Can't be afraid to fail.)

"There are massive returns to doggedness. The people who achieve the most are often the ones who stick with it even when others don't. They use their heads but also use their hearts. They show up, they practice and practice and practice some more. That's why they do so well in whatever career they choose."

With persistent effort, performance is improved which encourages more persistence which improves performance which encourages even more persistence. Lack of persistence acts in the opposite direction.

"The world is littered with talented people who didn't persist, who didn't put in the hours, who gave up too early, who thought they could ride on talent alone. Meanwhile, people who have less talent pass them by."

"Intrinsic motivation is so important. Doing things not to get an external reward like money or a promotion (praise from a parent or parental surrogate), but because you simply like doing it. The more intrinsic motivation you have, the more likely you are to persist. The more you persist, the more likely you are to succeed."

5) Make excellent mistakes.

"Too many people spend their time avoiding mistakes. They are so concerned about being wrong, about messing up, that they never try anything, which means they never do anything. Their focus is avoiding failure (again - mindset). But, that is actually a crummy way to achieve success. The most successful people make spectacular mistakes -- huge, honking screwups (this is Tom Peters' idea). Why? Because they are trying to do something big (BHAG - Peters). But each time they make a mistake, they get a little better and move a little closer to excellence" (Bob Waters and Tom Peters - In Search of Excellence).

What are good mistakes?

"Mistakes that come from having high aspirations, from trying to do something nobody else has done."

A bad mistake - playing it safe and comfortable. This leads no where. This is stagnation. If your are reflective about your process and your mistake, you will learn and improve. You will become perceptive and skilled.

"Bunko" means "to make a mistake from which the benefits of what you have learned exceed the costs of screwing up."

6) Leave an Imprint. Think everyday about your legacy. How will this place and these people be changed because of you and your work with them? There is incredible focusing and inspiring energy in considering this question. If you are intentional about trying to leave a good legacy, you can't be stagnant and afraid to take risks. You must be bold and reaching.

"Did it matter that I was here? Many people get to the end of their life and don't like the answer they have for this question...Think about the purpose of your work, your purpose. Your time here is not infinite and that you have limited time means don't wait to do something that matters...The truly successful people deploy themselves in the service of something larger than themselves. They leave their companies, the communities, there families a little better than before... This is what it means to be alive."

Read Johnny Bunko here

You can read the first 60 pages of The Adventure of Johnny Bunko by clicking this link.

Developing a Flat Classroom

Visit this directory at Atomic Learning to learn how to develop "a Flat Classroom" in seven steps. Vicki Davis is a teacher in rural Georgia. She shares her ideas and techniques through short video clips, so you can hone in on exactly what you are interested in or watch them all.


Discover lots of interesting easy ideas to incorporate into your teaching at Atomic Learning:

free technology tutorials for Mac
teacher2teacher project ideas and tutorials
self assessment of your digital communication skills

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

First published in 2005, Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat, has changed the way we talk about globalization. Many had begun to recognize and experience outsourcing when we called helplines that connected us to India and noticed the proliferation of goods made in China. Friedman, however, wrote about the big slew of forces that are propelling this interconnected, face-paced world, and pretty much makes the case that the changes, which he nicknames a flat world, are permanent.

Friedman predicts that the service sector (telemarketing, accounting, computer programming, engineering and scientific research, etc.), will be further outsourced to the English-spoken abroad; manufacturing, meanwhile, will continue to be off-shored to China. As anyone who reads his column knows, Friedman argues that these developments are desirable for their competitive efficiencies and are unstoppable, and that American workers should be preparing to 'create value through leadership' and 'sell personality.'

And for education, what does this all mean?
Is education a product or a service?
Is education outsourceable?
What about e-learning?

check out this website: Tutorvista.com or this one: Indian Math Online
online language instruction, standards-based KET Distance Learning

About Thomas Friedman

Biographical highlights:
Friedman graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University with a degree in Mediterranean studies and received a master's degree in modern Middle East studies from Oxford.

joined The New York Times in 1981 as a financial reporter specializing in OPEC- and oil-related news and later served as the chief diplomatic, chief White House, and international economics correspondents

three-time Pulitzer Prize winner

his webpage

His Books:
From Beirut to Jerusalem (1989) - basic understanding of the modern history of the Middle East and all its layered problems
The Lexus and the Olive Tree (1999) - analysis of oil politics and America's involvement
Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11 (2002) - collection of his columns about worldviews post 9/11 from his travels in Middle East, Afghanistan, Europe, Israel, Indonesia
The World Is Flat (2005) - paradigm shifting book about globalization as permanent state of the world
Hot, Flat, and Crowded (2008) - the need to green for economic survival

collection of his New York Times articles

Friedman Sampler Pack

I have selected a handful of great samples of Thomas Friedman's writing. People love him, in my opinion, for two reasons: his conversational/humorous style and the depth of his honest perspective. Even if you do not agree with him, his work is well done, on point, fun to read, and makes you think twice.

About the Olympics: "A Biblical Seven Years"
About Mother's Day 2008: "Call Your Mother"
About Energy Awareness: "Flush with Energy"
About a lottery to go to boarding school: "Hope in the Unseen"

Thomas Friedman at MIT

This lecture is from MIT's Open Courseware (free distance learning). MIT President Charles Vest introduces Thomas Friedman, explaining that Thomas Friedman is there at MIT because he is a powerful public voice, a global spokesman, for the values of openness, collaboration, and the importance of science and technology, all of which are what MIT embraces in its mission.

I had trouble getting the audio to play at first. Download it first, then double click the file on your desktop. It took a minute to load, but then played without trouble. Great interview -- well worth listening to.

If you have trouble above, try this link for an i-tunes download: http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/266

About half way down the page it says "Download this video at Apple iTunesU site."

Thomas Friedman on Charlie Rose 2006

What Made the World Flat?

Friedman defines ten "flatteners" that he sees as leveling the global playing field:

the Powerpoint
the article
the synopsis:

#1: Collapse of Berlin Wall -- 11/09/89: The event not only symbolized the end of the Cold war, it allowed people from other side of the wall to join the economic mainstream. Countries that had favored centrally planned economies were able to choose free-market oriented economies. Example: Eastern Europe, China,

#2: Netscape -- (8/9/1995): Netscape and the Web broadened the audience for the Internet from its roots as a communications medium used primarily by 'early adopters and geeks' (Compuserve users/early AOL users) to something that made the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to ninety-five-year olds. The digitization that took place meant that everyday occurrences such as words, files, films, music and pictures could be accessed and manipulated on a computer screen by all people across the world. Look at the way digitization (i-Tunes) changed the music industry.

#3: Workflow software: The ability of machines to talk to other machines with no humans involved. Friedman believes these first three forces have become a “crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration.” See how this have evolved into Web 2.0 (online communities) and Web 3.0.

#4: Open-Sourcing: Communities uploading and collaborating on online projects. Examples include open source software, blogs, and Wikipedia. Friedman considers the phenomenon "the most disruptive force of all." ("disruptive" means interrupts what we are familiar with; changes everything.)

#5: Outsourcing: Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components which can be subcontracted and performed in the most efficient, cost-effective way.

#6: Offshoring: The internal relocation of a company's manufacturing or other processes to a foreign land in order to take advantage of less costly operations there.

#7: Supply chaining: Friedman compares the modern retail supply chain to a river, and points to Wal-Mart as the best example of a company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution, and shipping.

#8: Insourcing: Friedman uses UPS as a prime example for insourcing, in which the company's employees perform services--beyond shipping--for another company. For example, UPS repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.

#9: In-forming: Google and other search engines are the prime example. "Never before in the history of the planet have so many people-on their own-had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people", writes Friedman. The growth of search engines is tremendous; for example take Google, in which Friedman states that it is "now processing roughly one billion searches per day, up from 150 million just three years ago".

#10: "The Steroids": Personal digital devices like mobile phones, iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol ( VoIP).

Surviving A Flat World

Friedman believes in order to fight the quiet crisis of a flattening world, the United States work force should keep updating its work skills. Making the work force more adaptable and skilled will keep it more employable. He also suggests that the government should make it easier to switch jobs by making retirement benefits and health insurance portable and by providing insurance that would partly cover a possible drop in income when changing jobs. Friedman also believes there should be more inspiration for youth to be scientists, engineers, and mathematicians due to a decrease in percentage of these professionals native to America.

What skills might a young person need to focus on to thrive in a flat world?

It's a Flat and New World

This video, Shift Happens (sometimes called Did You Know?) is amazing. It illustrates what is, whether we like it, want it, or not.

Shift Happens wiki - there are various versions of the presentation at this site.

This is the text of the video:

Did you know . . .
Sometimes size does matter.
If you’re one in a million in China . . .
There are 1,300 people just like you.
In India, there are 1,100 people just like you.
The 25% of the population in China with the highest IQ’s . . .
Is greater than the total population of North America.
In India, it’s the top 28%.
Translation for teachers: They have more honors kids than we have kids.
Did you know . . .
China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world.
If you took every single job in the U.S. today and shipped it to China . . .
China would still have a labor surplus.
During the course of this 8 minute presentation . . .
60 babies will be born in the U.S.
244 babies will be born in China.
351 babies will be born in India.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs . . .
By the age of 38.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor . . .
1 out of 4 workers today is working for a company they have been employed by for less than one year.
More than 1 out of 2 are working for a company they have worked for for less than five years.
According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley . . .
The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.
We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . .
Using technologies that haven’t been invented . . .
In order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.
Name this country . . .
Richest in the World
Largest Military
Center of world business and finance
Strongest education system
World center of innovation and invention
Currency the world standard of value
Highest standard of living
England.
In 1900.
Did you know . . .
The U.S. is 20th in the world in broadband Internet penetration.
(Luxembourg just passed us.)
In 2002 alone Nintendo invested more than $140 million in research and development.
The U.S. Federal Government spent less than half as much on Research and Innovation in Education.
1 out of every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.
There are over 100 million registered users of MySpace.(August 2006)
If MySpace were a country, it would be the 11th-largest in the world (between Japan and Mexico)*
The average MySpace page is visited 30 times a day.
Did you know . . .
We are living in exponential times.
There are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month.
To whom were these questions addressed B.G.?
(Before Google)
The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the population of the planet.
There are about 540,000 words in the English language . . .
About 5 times as many as during Shakespeare’s time.
More than 3,000 new books are published . . .
Daily.
It’s estimated that a week’s worth of New York Times . . .
Contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.
It’s estimated that 40 exabytes (that’s 4.0 x 1019) of unique new information will be generated worldwide this year.
That’s estimated to be more than in the previous 5,000 years.
The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years.
It’s predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010.
Third generation fiber optics has recently been separately tested by NEC and Alcatel . . .
That pushes 10 trillion bits per second down one strand of fiber.
That’s 1,900 CDs or 150 million simultaneous phone calls every second.
It’s currently tripling about every 6 months and is expected to do so for at least the next 20 years.
The fiber is already there, they’re just improving the switches on the ends. Which means the marginal cost of these improvements is effectively $0.
Predictions are that e-paper will be cheaper than real paper.
47 million laptops were shipped worldwide last year.
The $100 laptop project is expecting to ship between 50 and 100 million laptops a year to children in underdeveloped countries.
Predictions are that by 2013 a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computation capability of the Human Brain . . .
By 2023, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computation capability of the Human Brain . . .
First grader Abby will be just 23 years old and beginning her (first) career . . .
And while technical predictions further out than about 15 years are hard to do . . .
Predictions are that by 2049 a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the human race.
What does it all mean?
Shift Happens.
Now you know . . .

Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Mr. Friedman's newest book - Hot, Flat, and Crowded - rallies the cry for America to become the leader and innovator as only Americans can be in the new field of ET - energy technology.
He predicts that the ET boom will be akin to the IT (information technology) boom in that it will be a game-changer. More than that, Friedman sees ET as the ticket to the United States' sustainability and respectability in the world


Article from Wired magazine on Friedman's newest book: Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Thomas Friedman on Charlie Rose (video)

About William Damon

William Damon, author of The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling in Life, will speak at Grace-St. Luke's School on Tuesday, November 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary on the corner of Peabody and Belvedere. Damon is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, the director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and a professor of education at Stanford University. His current research explores how people develop character and a sense of purpose in their work, family, school, and community relationships. He examines how young people can approach their careers with a focus on purpose, self-understanding, imagination, and high standards of excellence. Damon also has written widely about how to educate for ethical understanding.

Damon's most recent books are Taking Philanthropy Seriously: Beyond Noble Intentions to Responsible Giving (2006); The Moral Advantage: How to Succeed in Business by Doing the Right Thing (2004); and Noble Purpose: The Joy of Living a Meaningful Life (2003). Earlier books include Bringing in a New Era in Character Education (2002); Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet (2001); The Youth Charter (1997); Greater Expectations: Overcoming the Culture of Indulgence in Our Homes and Schools (1995); and The Moral Child (1990).

Damon is editor-in-chief of The Handbook of Child Psychology, fifth and sixth editions (1998 and 2006). He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education.

Damon has received awards and grants supporting his research from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the John Templeton Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Before coming to Stanford in 1997, Damon was a professor of education and University Professor at Brown University, where he continues to hold an appointment as an adjunct professor of human development. From 1973 to 1989 Damon held a variety of academic positions at Clark University and, in 1988, was a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Puerto Rico. Damon received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. He is married and has three children.

It is with great intention that Grace-St. Luke's invites Dr. Damon to speak about his book The Path to Purpose. This school year at Grace-St. Luke's will focus on helping each child start the process of understanding themselves as learners, with each child engaging in intentional programs and processes to discover their strengths, their learning style, and how to use this awareness to become strategic learners. Damon's work furthers the discussion to include how parents and teachers can use a child's self awareness and understanding as a platform to guide them to a sense of purpose, mission, calling or passion early in life. Finding a passion or calling early, Damon postulates, thereby gives a child a lens or powerful sense of meaning to the whole education journey.

How Do Your Students Learn?

We may not like it, and it certainly causes us all more work, but....students are different.

Pay Attention

Middle School 2008-2009 Schedule

We will meet in Room 212 adjacent to McClure (old Chaplain's office)
There will be two groups: 12:05 to 12:45 and 12:50 to 1:30

SACS credit earned

please mark these dates on your calendars

Monday, September 22
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
12:05 and 12:50


Wednesday, October 15
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
12:05 and 12:50

Thursday, November 13th
Out of Our Minds by Sir Ken Robinson
12:05 and 12:50

January TBA
Q and A sessions

Tuesday, March 3
Five Minds for the Future by Dr. Howard Gardner
3:15 pm

Wednesday, April 8
"Digital Native, Digital Immigrants" by Marc Prensky
2:30 pm

Monday, April 20
What is Your Learning Story? --setting a path forward
3:15 pm

Lower School Schedule 2008

We will meet in the LS Science Lab
2:30 - 3:30 pm

SACS credit earned

please mark these dates on your calendars

Wednesday, October 15:
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

Wednesday, November 5
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

Wednesday, December 10
Out of Our Minds by Sir Ken Robinson

January TBA
Q and A sessions

Wednesday, February 11
Five Minds for the Future by Dr. Howard Gardner

Wednesday, March 25
"Digital Native, Digital Immigrants" by Marc Prensky

Wednesday, April 29
What is Your Learning Story? -- setting a path forward

Preschool Schedule 2008-2009

We will meet in Miss Lee's Conference Room
1:00 - 2:00 pm

SACS credit earned

Wednesday, September 17
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

Wednesday, October 22
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

Wednesday, December 17
Out of Our Minds by Sir Ken Robinson

January TBA
Q and A sessions

Thursday, February 19
Five Minds for the Future by Dr. Howard Gardner

Tuesday, April 7
"Digital Native, Digital Immigrants" by Marc Prensky

Wednesday, April 29
What is Your Learning Story? -- setting a path forward