Child's Definition of LOVE.

Read the following and try to control the lump in your throat….
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.

See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5"

Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4

Love is when my mummy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen," Bobby - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6"

There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." Jenny - age 8

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore," Cindy - age 8

"My mummy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine -age 5"Love is when Mummy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mummy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget," Jessica - age 8

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbour was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

Quotable ideas

"What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step." -- Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Does the prospect of changing and growing seem monumental to you? Just too much to tackle?

Then consider this approach. Take a simple step of affirming your openness to experience more or something new. Or a different first step might be to let go of judgment by embracing the neutral. Begin to see the people, activities and things around you as neither good nor bad. A journey is made of many small steps. Don’t focus on a far-off destination if you’re not clear how to get there. Build a foundation that is solid for you. We get to new places one step at a time.

"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time."-- John Wanamaker

Teaching manners and fair play are key to making pupils behave

By Richard Garner, Education Editor Published: 23 February 2006

Teaching good manners and fair play can be more effective than the smack of firm discipline in improving pupils' behaviour, government research has found.

The research, published today, looked at 250 primary schools involved in a pilot aimed at curbing unruly behaviour. The team from London University's Institute of Education foundthat the "softly, softly" approach had achieved a remarkable success in reducing poor behaviour and improving attendance.

It also led to improved performance in national curriculum English and maths tests for 11-year-olds.

Teachers were encouraged to focus on improving behaviour in all subjects - instead of just relying on a rule book. In PE lessons, for instance, they taught children the concept of fair play, working in teams and how to be good winners or losers.

The results were that - in one local education authority, Southend in Essex - 90 per cent of schools reported a reduction in exclusions and 80 per cent improved attendance. In another, Plymouth, one school recorded a drop in the number of serious playground incidents from 15 to none in the first year of the scheme.

The Government has tended to concentrate on the "zero tolerance" approach. But as a result of the study, ministers are to offer the programme to every primary school.

Teaching good manners and fair play can be more effective than the smack of firm discipline in improving pupils' behaviour, government research has found. The research, published today, looked at 250 primary schools involved in a pilot aimed at curbing unruly behaviour. The team from London University's Institute of Education found that the "softly, softly" approach had achieved a remarkable success in reducing poor behaviour and improving attendance.

It also led to improved performance in national curriculum English and maths tests for 11-year-olds. Teachers were encouraged to focus on improving behaviour in all subjects - instead of just relying on a rule book. In PE lessons, for instance, they taught children the concept of fair play, working in teams and how to be good winners or losers. The results were that - in one local education authority, Southend in Essex - 90 per cent of schools reported a reduction in exclusions and 80 per cent improved attendance. In another, Plymouth, one school recorded a drop in the number of serious playground incidents from 15 to none in the first year of the scheme. The Government has tended to concentrate on the "zero tolerance" approach. But as a result of the study, ministers are to offer the programme to every primary school.

Managing Interruptions: Maintain focus. Keep control of time.

Everyday interruptions at work can be a key barrier to managing your time effectively and, ultimately, a barrier to your success. Think back to your workday last Friday and consider for a minute the many interruptions that occurred. They may have been phone calls, emails, hallway conversations, colleagues stopping by your office, or anything else that unexpectedly demanded your attention and, in doing so, distracted you from the task at-hand.

Because your day only has so many hours in it, a handful of even the smallest interruptions can rob you of the time you need to achieve your goals and be successful in your work and life.

More than this, they can break your focus, meaning that you have to spend time re-engaging with the thought processes needed to successfully complete complex work.

The key to managing interruptions is to know what they are and whether they are necessary, and to plan for them in your daily schedule when they truly need your attention. The tips that follow will help you do that and so prevent interruptions from frustrating you and jeopardizing your success.

1. Keep An Interrupters Log
If interruptions consistently rob you of time and energy, or if they frequently push you off schedule and cause delays, it’s time to keep an Interrupters Log. This is a simple record of the interruptions you experience in the course of a day.

Keep your Interrupters Log with you every day for at least a week, recording every interruption you experience, and marking down the person interrupting you; the date and time it occurs; what the interruption is; whether it was valid; and whether it was urgent (or whether someone could have waited until a better time.) This allows you to more accurately identify the interruptions that are causing you to fall behind or to experience time crunches and delays. Once you have recorded the interruptions for a week, sit down with your log and analyze the information.
Which interruptions are valid and which are not? You need to deal with the valid interruptions. As for the interruptions that are not valid, you must find a way to block these out in the future or the productivity that will suffer is your own!

2. Analyze and Conquer Interruptions
To analyze and conquer the interruptions you find in your Interrupters Log, firstly look at whether the interruption is valid or not. Could someone have avoided interrupting you by waited for a routine meeting? Or was it something they should have asked you about at all? If not, deal with this politely but assertively.

Next, look at how urgent the interruptions were, and whether they could have been pre-empted. You can pre-empt many interruptions by holding routine meetings with people: If they're confident that they'll have access to you at a defined point in the near future, they'll learn to save up non-urgent issues until this meeting. However, some interruptions are both urgent and valid. You need to be interrupted, and you need to deal with the situation. From your Interrupters Log, you'll see how much time is taken up by these urgent, valid interruptions. Block this time into your schedule as "contingency time", and only take on as much other work as you can fit into the remaining time. You'll have to juggle this other work around the interruptions, but at least you won't be overloaded and stressed by the things that you haven't done because they've been displaced by emergencies.

3. Put Your Phone to Work for You (…Not Against You)
A little bit of planning can go a long way in working to control telephone interruptions, which most people experience all day long. If you are on a deadline or your focus needs to be intense (and not interrupted), use your voice mail to screen calls or have an assistant deal with messages for you. This way, you can deal with calls by priority at times that suit you. In fact, this telephone time can be planned into your schedule, and so become a normal part of your working pattern.

4. Catch Your Breath
When interrupted, it’s easy to get caught up in the “rush” of the person who is interrupting, for they undoubtedly feel their request is urgent. In reality, however, most interruptions are not a crisis and it serves everyone best to take a little time before taking action. Take a few minutes to consider the situation. Catch your breath and clear your head. A small delay, even one of just a few minutes, goes a long way in assessing the situation accurately and reacting appropriately.

5. Learn to Say “No”
It’s often acceptable to say “no” to requests or tasks if you are busy when someone else can handle it, if it is not an important task, or if it can be done later. When this is the case, saying “no” in a courteous and sincere way, followed by a short explanation is the best course of action to take: “I am working against a very tight deadline on an important project right now so, I am sorry, but I can not jump in and help”.

6. “Available” and “Unavailable” Time
Simple yet effective: Let people know when you are available… and when you are not. Make sure that people know that during your "unavailable time", they should only interrupt you if they have to. You and your co-workers can also agree on a signal that everyone in the office can use when tied up and unavailable, like turning the nameplate on the door around, or simply closing the door. This alleviates interruptions and can avoid hurt feelings.

7. “Invitation Only” Time
Schedule regular check-in times for the individuals you talk to most often. Ask these people to keep a running list of things that they need to discuss, so you can cover all the points at one time. And, force yourself to do the same. An open-door policy is good, but you should limit the number of people you invite to your work area. For instance, if you're scheduling a meeting, offer to meet your co-worker in his or her office or a conference room. This way, you can excuse yourself after you accomplish your purpose. Additionally, it's much easier to get up and leave than it is to get people to leave your office once seated and comfortable there.

8. Uncontrollable Interruptions
There are interruptions that, no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot control. Most people are happy to schedule a more convenient time, but when this does not work, quickly set the parameters by saying something like, “I only have five minutes to talk about this right now,” and stick to it. Do not ask the interrupter to sit down and do not engage in small talk. Encourage the interrupter to get right to the point and if a solution cannot be reached before the allotted time runs out, set a time for getting back to them and, again, stick to it.

A focus on curriculum

The term "inclusion" suggests that special-ed children need to be included in regular education classes. Most of the time, children with special needs must have their lessons, tests, quizzes, projects, homework and class work differentiated to accommodate their learning disabilities. This, no doubt, takes an extra level of donning and doffing and planning by teachers.

Then teachers face the challenge of teaching those who do not have "special needs" but have special needs. What I mean is the majority of my students do not read on their grade level. The reading level for my 10th-graders ranges from third to 10th grade.

Teachers find sources and taxonomies to assist with differentiation. Bloom's Taxonomy is a guided classification of thinking with the following levels, from rudimentary to most complex: knowledge (recalling), comprehension (grasping), application (applying), analysis (breaking down information), synthesis (breaking down information and reconstructing it in another form) and evaluation (comprehending two sets of criteria and making a value judgment). This helps teachers plan different levels of work for students and dictates the time it takes to grade the work. It's more time-consuming to grade 70 analysis papers than knowledge tests.

Qoutable quotes

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." --Thomas Edison, inventor and businessman

MORAL PURPOSE WRIT LARGE

By Michael Fullan, Ph.D., dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

He is the author of Leading in a Culture of Change.

The pressing goal is to infuse spiritual force into all educators.The expanding interest in moral and spiritual leadership in education is an alluring but complex phenomenon. People can be automatically attracted to or repelled by the emphasis on the spiritual.

First, an explanation of the terminology. Both terms—"moral purpose" and "spiritual leadership"—have problems. Defined literally, moral purpose is too narrow. Webster's defines moral as "of or related to principles of right and wrong behavior."

Spirituality has religious connotations for many, although Webster's definition is "a life-giving force." I am going to use the somewhat cumbersome phrase "moral purpose writ large" to indicate we are talking about principled behavior connected to something greater than ourselves that relates to human and social development.

We need two things: (1) a clearer and less-mysterious idea of what we are talking about, and (2) an accessible and achievable goal for the cultivation of most leaders, not just a few.

Removing the MysteryWe need to take the mystery (but not the complexity) out of moral purpose writ large. The leadership in schools that we need for the future must be recast in more fundamental terms. This is also the key to deeper and more sustainable reform.

In a recent article titled "The Change Leader," which appeared in Educational Leadership, I critiqued the narrow conception of principal as instructional leader. The latter has taken us an important but short distance toward improving schools. It is not to denigrate the accomplishments in improving literacy and numeracy, for example, by also saying these improvements in the bigger scheme of things are "skin deep." The building blocks may start with instructional improvement, but they must go far beyond. Let me suggest a series of ever-increasing accomplishments that are required for deeper and more lasting reform. In point form, there are four aspects of leadership:
making a difference in the lives of students;
committing to reducing the gap between high and low performers within your school or district;
contributing to reducing the gap in the larger environment; and
transforming the working (or learning conditions) of others so that growth, commitment, engagement and the constant spawning of leadership in others is being fostered.

The First OrderMaking a difference in the lives of students is the first order of moral/spiritual leadership and the one we most readily think of. Instructional leaders are devoted to this goal. The next level involves leadership that focuses on reducing the gap between high and low performers. As assessment literacy evolves, effective principals disaggregate data to address the needs of all subgroups within the school. They constantly cultivate analysis, pursue action and monitor all aspects of the school population.

The third level represents a qualitative shift in what we normally think of as leadership. At first blush, it may seem naïve to say that school leaders must be almost as concerned about the success of other schools (in their district or elsewhere) as they are in their own. This is moral purpose writ larger and is the key to sustainability. I call this leadership that helps develop "the social/moral environment." As I stated recently in my Educational Leadership article: "Those concerned about the depletion of resources in the physical environment were the first to discuss the issue of sustainability. Our concern is the depletion of resources in the social and moral environment. In the social and moral environment of the school, we need the resources to close the achievement gap between high and low performers, to develop all schools in the system, and to connect schools to the strength of democracy in society. Further, if school leaders do not concern themselves with the development of the social and moral environment of the entire district (in addition to the development of the environment within their own school), then not only will the school system deteriorate, but eventually their own schools will also fail."

Leaders who are most effective in their own organizations and beyond are those who can connect to the bigger picture. They do not have tunnel vision. They do much better at connecting the dots—what I have called coherence-making. They also know that reducing the performance gap across all schools in the nation (and beyond) is the key to social cohesion in society, health and well-being of citizens and economic performance. The betterment of humankind as not an abstract goal for moral/spiritual leadership. It is part and parcel of leadership for a higher purpose.

Fourth, you cannot accomplish the previous three levels of leadership without the transformative powers of creating growth-oriented learning conditions of others in the organization. In our evaluation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy in England, we found that although literacy and numeracy achievement scores went up in the 1997-2002 period, the morale of teachers, if anything, declined in that same period. Raising achievement scores is one thing, creating a dynamic-engaged teaching profession is another. We are now working with the British to determine what policies would transform the working conditions of teachers. Such transformation requires passion, commitment and sustained energy. In short, you need many leaders working with moral/spiritual force.

Other studies are pointing in the same direction. Jim Collins, in his recent book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't, analyzed in detail 11 companies that experienced sustained economic performance over a minimum of 15 years and compared them to other companies that had short-term growth. He makes precisely the same distinction I just made in reference to the England study.

Collins distinguishes between the Level 4 "Effective Leader" who "catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards" (read "increased achievement scores") with Level 5 "Executive Leader" who "builds enduring greatness" in the organization (read "transforms the learning conditions for all"). In brief, the next phase of leadership in education goes far beyond instructional advancement into growth experiences for students and teachers alike that are truly spiritual in the life-giving sense.

UnattainabilityLittle of the above will happen if we idealize spiritual leadership. For one thing, charismatic, visionary leadership is the wrong conception for getting the job done. Second, only a few exceptional people meet this idealized standard. Again recent studies bear out a more accessible, humble image of leaders at many levels.

Collins, in his book, found that charismatic leaders were negatively associated with sustainable performance. The 11 leaders who built enduring greatness were not high-profile flashy performers but rather "individuals who blend extreme personal humility with intense professional will." Joseph Badaracco, in his 2002 book Leading Quietly, makes a similar case. Leaders who do the right thing lead quietly. They are at all levels of the organization and do not necessarily stand out. They are not spiritual in terms of God-like purity, but are all too human as they recognize "mixed motives" in themselves. They don't try to "save the world," or "buy time" (especially when problems are complex), nor do they "bend the rules" and "craft compromises," according to Badaracco, a professor at the Harvard Business School. These leaders exemplify what he calls "three quiet virtues"—restraint, modesty and tenacity.

Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes provide a similar portrayal in Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins. Such leaders are not preoccupied by looking good, but rather by learning from efforts to solve complex problems. Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, co-authors of Leadership on the Line, also give a more realistic image of "staying alive through the dangers of leading." Their last chapter is titled "Sacred Heart" in which three virtues are discussed—innocence, curiosity and compassion. These virtues tap into our deeper sense of purpose, but not in a high-falutin' way. Once again spirituality plays itself out in humble, messy circumstances. Defining leadership in these terms invites everyone to be a moral/spiritual contributor. My argument is that it is essential for spiritual leadership to be taken off its high horse and instead be seen as occurring in a thousand small ways through everyday behavior.

Transforming a FieldFinally, let me be clear that I am not suggesting that spiritual leadership be left to chance. On the contrary, this is where we link the last level of leadership in the previous section about transforming the working conditions to the question of what strategies will get us there. Two ideas are crucial—learning in context and producing leaders at many levels. Recruiting top-performing principals is important, but not as important as systematically learning on the job. Learning in context occurs when people interact to learn and solve problems they face. Learning out of context takes place when principals go to a workshop or conference. Such learning can be valuable for further development, but it is not the kind of applied learning that makes a difference. Learning in context has the greatest potential payoff because it is more specific, situational and social (it develops shared and collective knowledge and commitments). Of course, it depends on what is being learned, which in our case is essentially the four aspects of leadership discussed earlier.

Leaders at many levels must be cultivated as people learn in context. An organization cannot flourish—at least, not for long—on the actions of the top leader alone. Schools and districts need many leaders at many levels. Learning in context helps produce such leaders. Further, for leaders to be able to deal with complex problems, they need many years of experience and professional development on the job. To some extent, a school leader's effectiveness in creating a culture of sustained change will be determined by the leaders he or she leaves behind. In a real sense we are talking about transforming the teaching profession. We will not have a large pool of quality principals until we have a large pool of quality teachers. We will only get quality principals when we have quality teachers in numbers.

To me, spiritual leadership represents a paradox. It sounds lofty, but it must be accomplished on the ground through the actions of many. The key to the next phase of developing education systems is to realize that spiritual leadership and long-term accountability are intimately related. What better motivation than to rediscover and galvanize in its modern form the intrinsic interests of teachers to do good work. Only this time, it can't be an individual phenomenon unevenly dispersed, but rather a system characteristic deliberately fostered by many leaders with moral purpose writ large.

IUnsects

Crickets telegraph current events,
As news hits their desk,
Moths answer with Morse Code,
Their wings' staccato beats strangely comforting.
A spider lays in wait, perfectly still,
Patience personified, energy conserved,
Waiting for that explosive moment,
When death can extend life.
Other spiders congregate collectively,
Gathering the errant and the misguided,
Showing them some measure of attention,
But not every one who notices you,
Is your friend.
Mosquitos hum with bloody intent,
Their tuneless meanderings a signpost,
I've heard that the one that hums is harmless,
The one that you don't hear bites.
Cockroaches scuttle smugly,
They are safe in such arrogance,
For with any global catastrophe,
They will inherit the earth.
Such interesting and powerful events,
Insects truly rule our planet,
Until I step on them and crush them,
Or until something bigger than them comes along.

Cheers

Two Sundays Ago

The sun was pleasant upon my back,
The day was going well,
The trail stretched out before us,
Drenched in the forest’s smell.
On a new trail foreign to us,
We enjoyed the spirit of discovery,
Reveling in the new conditions,
And the sights to see.
Half way upon our journey,
Fate cunningly intervened,
A major kind of breakdown,
The kind of which I’ve never dreamed.
The worst kind of broken,
Uttering words I can’t repeat,
I at least got kind of mobile,
But I’d need to use my feet.
Miles from home or anywhere,
We walked through bramble and burr,
Until the landscape became familiar,
And we kind of knew where we were.
My partner went off then,
Back to get his car,
I would continue to walk, though,
Destined to not get far,
For I was wearing new shoes,
Not properly conditioned yet,
And judging by the pain I felt,
Blisters were a safe bet.
For another hour I trudged forward,
Hoping for some reprieve,
Just wanting for this time to end,
Just wanting to simply leave.
My friend arrived with a sour expression,
His car was not running well,
The clutch was not engaging properly,
This day had gone to Hell.
He nursed it with much finesse,
Cajoling it with great skill,
Massaging when were going up,
Then coasting down each hill.
We parted ways with some relief,
We had faced challenges and won,
At least there was some daylight left,
Some chance at having fun.
My daughter was quite excited,
A birthday party in her plans,
So we made a card and got dressed,
A present in our hands.
A good time was being had by all,
Bowling was the day’s theme,
Sugar and saturated fat on the table,
It was a child’s every dream.
When over the loudspeaker,
Came a message about my car,
And to report outside immediately,
It was just bizarre.
Outside a crowd had gathered,
One of them in tears,
A quick inspection followed,
To confirm my darkest fears.
A person had not been looking,
And from them I wish not to detract,
But my car was far away from theirs,
But into it they still backed.
The damage to my car was minor,
Much more significant to theirs,
I know accidents can surely happen,
But that did not help my despair.
My car has recently been painted,
To have it marked in such a way,
I just thought it was typical,
And that’s all I have to say.
So at this point I was ruminating,
A thought swirling in my head,
I wish that I had paranormal powers,
So I would have stayed in bed.

Cheers

Expressions

You’re upset at my expressions,
I challenge you with a wink,
I’m trying to share my enthusiasm,
I’m trying to make you think.
The snarl is not aggressive,
You may not have seen one in a while,
My teeth are bared, but I’m friendly,
That expression is called a smile.
The tears are ones of laughter,
Not every cry one of pain,
Take me for what I am,
Before I go insane.

Cheers

Random quotes

Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your gold and good health have vanished. Og Mandino~

Cheers

Triple filters

"In any community or group we hear gossip about other people. These pieces of gossip are often based on very little fact and grow to be more and more ‘interesting’ as they are passed from one person to the next.

Here is a story that I hope you find thought provoking.

One day the great Philosopher came upon an acquaintance, who said excitedly, " Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?"
"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test." "Triple filter?" questioned the young man.

That's right," Socrates continued, "Before you talk to me about my student, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say."

The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and ...''
"Ah right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not - Now let's try the second filter, the 2nd filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

We should apply the Triple Filter test to anything we have heard about a fellow human being and are considering repeating. Gossip can be a cruel, humiliating and thoughtless punishment and is a severe forum of bullying and exclusion. Think it over before you repeat anything about anyone and consider the impact that being gossiped about can have or is having on your life. Gossip is the act of a bully. Small minds talk about people, mediocre minds talk about things and great minds talk about ideas. Try and be a great mind in everything you do."

Cheers

To be 10 again!

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, observing his wife turning back and forth, looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off, he asked what she'd like to have for her birthday.

"I'd like to be 10 again", she replied, still looking in the mirror.

On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of "Lucky Charms", and then took her to a theme park.

What a day!

He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster everything there was. Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. He then took her to a McDonald's where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake. Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favourite sweets, M&M's. What a fabulous adventure!

Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, well Dear, what was it like being 10 again??

Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed.I meant my Dress Size, you idiot!!

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is going to get it wrong.

Cheers

The smaller beatitudes by Joseph Folliet.

(which beautifully apply to the role of teachers and school leaders)
Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves: they will have no end of fun. Blessed are those who can tell a mountain from a molehill: they will be saved a lot of bother. Blessed are those who know how to relax without looking for excuses: they are on the way to becoming wise. Blessed are those who know when to be quiet and listen: they will learn a lot of new things. Blessed are those who are sane enough not to take themselves too seriously: they will be valued by those about them. Happy are you if you can appreciate a smile and forget a frown: you will walk on the sunny side of the street. Happy are you if you can be kind in understanding the attitude of others: you may be taken for a fool, but this is the price of charity. Happy are you if you know when to hold your tongue and smile: the Gospel has begun to seep into your heart. Blessed are they who think before acting and pray before thinking: they will avoid many blunders.

Cheers

Random quotes

"The power of imagination makes us infinite." -John Muir, environmentalist, explorer, writer

Cheers

Kids and chocolate

Recently we had an evening together with another family. Our combination of five kids were well behaved, playing and generally enjoying each others’ company. As a reward we gave the a small amount of chocolate and it all went south.
Were they excited to get chocolate, so they behaved excitedly and strangely?
Is there something in the line of thinking that chocolate and other sweet foods are anagrams for "really badly behaved children"?
It was just strange, because not long after that they all calmed down.
Weird.
Cheers

Amazing Home Remedies

1. If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic. Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat and presto. The blockage will be almost instantly removed.

2. Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away

3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs about lifting the toilet seat by simply using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.

5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you will be afraid to cough.

7. Have a bad toothache? Smash your thumb with a hammer and you will forget about the toothache.

Sometimes, we just need to remember what the rules of life really are:You only need two tools: WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40.If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.

Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

Never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom.

If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You get another chance.

And finally, be really nice to your family and friends; you never know when you might need them to empty your bedpan.

Cheers

Imagination

"The power of imagination makes us infinite." -John Muir, environmentalist, explorer, writer

Cheers

Change

Change is inevitable. Progress is optional. -Anonymous

Cheers

IT COULD BE WORSE...

Bad: You can't use your classroom after school because parents and administrators are meeting in there.
Worse: They are meeting to talk about you.
Bad: Eight of your students complained of nausea and had to go to the nurse's office.
Worse: Six other nauseous students didn't make it that far.
Bad: Someone keeps calling the principal to complain about how poorly supervised your students are.
Worse: The phone calls are coming from your classroom.
Bad: A parent is driving you crazy with her endless complaints about your classroom and your teaching.
Worse: She already has requested you for her younger child next year.

Cheers

Effective teachers

The Age, Melbourne, April 24, 2006A new study reveals what makes a great teacher, reports Caroline Milburn.
THE difference between the best teachers of young children and ineffective teachers is not what they do, but how they do it. A landmark study of Australia's primary schools has revealed that all prep and grade 1 teachers tend to teach the same literacy activities, such as shared book reading, modelled writing and phonics. But their success depends on how they present the activities.
The study, commissioned by the Federal Government, sought to identify effective teaching practices that lead to improved literacy of students in the first two years of school. The literacy skills of 2000 children in every state and territory were assessed at the start and the end of the year. A team of researchers then visited schools in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and Tasmania to observe children and their teachers in the classroom.
The study found all of the teachers were able to get their students to take part in classroom activities and have some fun. However, the most effective teachers - those whose students made the biggest literacy gains over the year - drew on a much wider repertoire of teaching practices. They explained activities more clearly, had deeper subject knowledge, maintained a high level of intellectual challenge for their students and had more fun than did less-effective teachers. "Good teachers are able to figure out where every child is at and set them a task that's hard for them," said Professor William Louden, dean of education at the University of Western Australia, who led the team of researchers, together with Associate Professor Mary Rohl, of Edith Cowan University.
"Good teachers had the most fun in their classrooms: the lessons were lively, fast-paced, and full of jokes and little classroom games. Good teachers put on a fabulous show and clearly they're the best thing to look at in their classroom. "Some of the other teachers could get their kids' attention but they did not secure that deep engagement that the most effective teachers did."
The study, In Teachers' Hands, revealed all teachers paid attention to the teaching of letter-sound relationships or phonics. But the less effective teachers were more likely to teach phonics as an isolated activity without linking it to books and themes the children were studying. Their understanding of phonics was weak and their explanations often confused their students. Overall, the less effective teachers had a limited view of early literacy teaching and tended to rely on "busy-work" activities that were not tailored to their students' different abilities and needs.
"Sometimes you will look at what kids are doing - colouring in or filling in a worksheet - and you have to ask, what else is to be learned here, where's the challenge?" said Professor Louden. He said extra state government money for early-years literacy in recent years had led to a core of literacy activities being extensively used in schools nationwide. The need to improve teaching practices was the next challenge facing state governments.
"The most important finding of our study was that it is the teaching practices employed in the implementation of an activity, rather than the activity itself, that distinguishes between the more effective and less effective teacher," he said.
SHARED READING
Case studies of teachers reading a big book to a class, using it for discussion and later writing activity.
EFFECTIVE TEACHER
· Asks children to find key features of text, not only author and illustrator, but more sophisticated features such as copyright, references to publisher's website. Ensures all children contribute to the introductory discussion and get individual feedback.
· As the teacher turns each page, there is discussion of plot development and character. The teacher encourages children to reflect on their own experiences.
· After the teacher reads each page, children are invited to join in a re-reading. The teacher points to compound words they have been studying and words that will be important in the children's story writing.
· Once book is read, the teacher discusses story's main themes; allows children to reflect on their past experiences. Makes link to the writing activity by explicitly reintroducing children to the type of writing that authors use: the recount genre. The teacher recounts a personal experience similar to themes raised by book, then writes a recollection, with help from the children, explaining it needs the first-person voice and past tense.
· Then children begin writing their experiences. The teacher works individually with children, challenging each child at their own level of literacy skill.
LESS-EFFECTIVE TEACHER
· Has a cursory, brief discussion with the children about the book's cover, author and illustrator.
· Reads the text, asking children occasionally to predict "what might happen next".
· When book is read, there is a brief discussion about the text that involves a few children. Children are attentive but not particularly engaged.
· Instructs class to write about their experiences of the book's topic in their diaries, and then provides limited feedback to groups and individual students.
Source: In Teachers' Hands, DEST
WEBSITE
· inteachershands.education.ecu.edu.au/

Random quotes

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." --Thomas Edison, inventor and businessman

Cheers

Learn to be aware

“You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself.” -- Beryl Markham

Who am I? To answer this, we must first learn to become more aware of ourselves. To be aware, we must STOP and PAY ATTENTION! We need to STOP and objectively watch ourselves in action. We live most of our lives by habit. These habits keep us stuck in patterns that limit our experience of life. Once we detect a pattern we were previously unconscious of, we can choose differently, if we want. With awareness comes choice and with choice, we gain freedom.

“To be authentic is literally to be your own author …, to discover your own native energies and desires, and then to find your own way of acting on them.” -- Warren G. Bennis “Self-knowledge is the great power by which we comprehend and control our lives.” -- Vernon Howard

Cheers

Bonds with people

Every step we take—no matter how small—to understand the needs of other people we strive to serve will increase our bond with them and move us in the direction of a higher standard of leadership. —Keshevan Nair (1994)

Cheers

Love

Child's Definition of LOVE.


A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4

Love is when my mummy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen," Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6

"There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." Jenny - age 8

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore," Cindy - age 8

"My mummy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6"Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine -age 5

"Love is when Mummy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mummy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget," Jessica - age 8

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbour was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

Random quotes

I don't know any other way to lead but by example." --Don Shula, legendary football coach

Cheers

Experience stillness

"My greatest wealth is the deep stillness in which I strive and grow and win what the world cannot take from me with fire or sword." -- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

If our minds are always busy, they don’t get time to do basic maintenance – to sort, tidy up and take out the trash. If we don’t periodically clear out space in our minds, there’s no room for new ideas to take root.

Where do you find stillness each day and each week? Plan for quiet time, relaxation and stillness daily, even if it’s only for 5 or 10 minutes. "For peace of mind, we need to resign as general manager of the universe." -- Larry Eisenberg

Dreams

"Don’t discard your fantasies as merely wishful thinking. Honour them as messages from the deepest part of your being about what you can do and directions you can choose." -- Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer

What are your deepest heart-felt desires, dreams and visions? Our deepest desires and dreams align with the essence of who we are. The more we align with that essence, the more our life holds meaning, purpose and fulfilment. Do you have a sense of your destiny?

"Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born." -- Dale E. Turner

"Everybody builds a dream in their lifetime. You’re either going to build your dream, or somebody else's. So build your own!" -- Christopher LaBrec

Random quotes

Energy is like love: the more we use, the more we find we have!!

the importance of our telephone

Research indicates that 52% of callers hang up when placed on hold and experience one minute of silence; 13 % hang up when music is played; 2% when there is a spoken message. Those who had music felt they were on hold for a shorter time, but those in silence felt the minute was more like five minutes. The British Henley Centre research report concluded: "During our research, we found that 86% of people said if they experienced one badly handled call, they would rather not deal with that organization again.

A thought for us all:

Lord, thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing older and will someday be old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs. Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all, but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips on my aches and pains. They are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of other’s pains, but help me to endure them with patience.

I dare not ask for improved memory but for growing humility and a lessening cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a saint – some of them are so hard to live with – but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in inexpert people. And give me, Lord, the grace to tell them so.

Amen.

It could be a small world

If we could shrink the Earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the human ratio's remaining the same, it would look something like the following:

THERE WOULD BE:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North & South
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world'swealth and all 6 would be from the US
80 would be living in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death - 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding, and education becomes glaringly apparent.

I just liked it

Trust

We cannot afford to ignore the emotional fallout from our own inappropriate behaviour and/or poor management practices and policies, nor those of our organisation. People get hurt. When it becomes chronic, it is an enormous distraction and makes people sick. They become de-motivated. Job satisfaction and productivity suffer. There are significant economic costs to the organization.

The healing process needs the understanding of honesty in dealing with each other, knowing the difference between right and wrong, having courage to do what is right, and caring about relationships.

Employees don’t trust information unless they know it has meaning for them. It is not enough to communicate the information with talks and memos; employees need to be able to question directives, and managers need to be open about their reasoning, why they made their decisions. Creating trust requires interactive communication, dialogue based on values of respect and continual learning. Employees need also to trust that management will not punish mistakes or criticism but will use them as a basis for learning.

Get the red rose

A woman saw a little rose
It bloomed there in bright heights
She asked her man
if he could fetch it for her
She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets
Deep wells must be dug
if you want clear water
Get the red rose
Deep waters don't run still
The man climbs the mountain in torment
He doesn't really care about the view
Only the little rose is on his mind
He brings it to his sweetheart
She wants it and that's fine
So it was and so it will always be
She wants it and that's the custom
Whatever she wants she gets
Deep wells must be dug
if you want clear water
Get the red rose
Deep waters don't run still
At his boots, a stone breaks
Doesn't want to be on the cliff anymore
And a scream lets everyone know
Both are falling to the ground

Merry Kitchmas

Looking for that perfect gift?

Try the twelve days of kitchmas!


http://ship-of-fools.com/kitschmas/index.html

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER by Erma Bombeck (Written after she found out she was dying from cancer)

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."
There would have been more "I love you's."
More "I'm sorry's."
But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it ... live it ... and never give it back.
Stop sweating the small stuff.
Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what.
Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.
Let's think about what God has blessed us with.
And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally, as well as spiritually.
Life is too short to let it pass you by.
We only have one shot at this and then it's gone.
I hope you all have a blessed day.

What Makes A Good Teacher?

This was the heading on part of a major article on boys in schooling, published in The Australian on 6 January. The points made by the boys were:

Listens to what you have to say.
Respects you as a person; treats you like a friend and adult.
Is relaxed, enjoys their day, and is able to laugh, especially at mistakes.
Is flexible, adjusts rules and expectations to meet the needs of individuals and particular circumstances.
Explains the work. Makes the work interesting. Finds interesting things to do.
Does not humiliate you in front of the class.
Does not write slabs of work on the board to be copied.
Lets you talk and move about in the classroom.
Does not favour girls, or boys who do what they are told.
Does not keep picking on people who have a reputation, pushing them to retaliate.
Does not mark you down because of your behaviour.
Gives you a chance to muck up and learn from it.
does not keep telling you that you're no good and should leave school.
In most schools, fewer than 10% of their teachers were thought to meet the above criteria.

Generosity

"Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find it out."

What we can learn from dogs

Things that we can all learn from a dog...
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them
Run, romp and play daily
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm
Be loyal
Never pretend to be something you are not
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride
Allow the experience of the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy
When it's in your best interest, practice obedience
Let others know when they've invaded your territory
Take naps and stretch before rising
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently
Thrive on attention and let people touch you
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do
On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body
No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout...run right back and make friends
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk

No matter what you may think of Rudy Giuliani's accomplishments as mayor of New York City, no one disputes that he stepped up to the challenge of leading the city in the aftermath of September 11. Now on the lecture circuit, Giuliani gave the following leadership tips at a recent seminar:

Have a set of beliefs. "You can't still be wondering who you are and where you're going," he says, "because you'll get confused and go in all kinds of directions. Ronald Reagan was the same Ronald Reagan he was as governor, as president and when he left office. You may not have agreed with him, but you knew what his beliefs were."

Become an expert. "When people come to you to ask for advice and information because you know more about a subject than they do, that's a sign of great leadership," Giuliani says.

Be respectful. "People know when you're talking down to them, and they will not respect you," he says. "Be forceful and honest but plain-spoken and respectful," he adds.

Discourage yes-men. "Create a team that complements your strengths and weaknesses rather than mimicking them," Giuliani says.

Understand good leaders, not good leadership. "read biographies of leaders you admire," he says. "That will tell you more about leadership than any leadership book."

An Anecdote

A ‘crossed wires’ conversation between a Yr7 student and myself in class the other day brings tears to my eyes about the idiosyncratic nature of language. (This Yr 7 does have Learning Difficulties). If you feel it is suitable and you can use for a little light humour for teachers………..

"It had been the usual hectic morning in the multi-aged Yr4-7 classroom when I found myself at the end of my fuse concerning the continual verbal barrage I was receiving from Mr Off-task Yr7 who had just thrown another question out into the ether. As soon as my sarcastic reply was uttered I was sincerely apologetic and offered him my apologies for such a put-down.
Bewildered he looked at me and asked…."What! Are you taking me to the vet?’

It truly took effort on my behalf to stop from laughing out loud and totally defused me….
I decided it was one of those stories to keep for the memoirs.

Random quotes

A learning organisation sees the environment as messy, complex and volatile. It picks and chooses its way, attempting to use certain events as catalysts for action, to turn constraints into opportunities, and to blunt or minimise the impositions that do not make sense...because they know that that is the only way to survive and prosper in a complex environment. Michael Fullan

Spider Kama Sutra

They are playful and romantic and kinky and enthusiastic and ferocious and savage and exotic, and really know how to have a good time. I thought I'd share a few of the pretty pictures and details of the arachnid sex life with the readers of Pharyngula—so if you're mature enough to handle it, exuberant enough to enjoy reading about interesting animals doing fun things, and aren't too squicked out at the idea of closeups of spider genitalia, read on.First, a little anatomy, and we'll start with the female. Here is the underside of a generic spider.


http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/spider_kama_sutra/

Female Perspective

When I was in my younger days,
I weighed a few pound less.
I needn’t hold my tummy in
To wear a belted dress.
But now that I am older,
I’ve set my body free;
There’s comfort in elastic
Where my waist used to be.
Inventor of those high-heeled shoes
My feet have not forgiven;
I have to wear a nine now,
But used to wear a seven.
And how about those pantyhose…
They’re sized by weight, you see,
So how come when I put them on,
The crotch is at my knee?
I need to wear these glasses
As the print’s been getting smaller:
And it wasn’t very long ago
I know that I was taller.
Though my hair has turned to grey
And my skin no longer fits,
On the inside, I’m the same old me,
The outside’s changed a bit.
But, on a positive note…..
I’ve learned that no matter what happens,
Or how bad it seems today,
Life goes on, and it will get better tomorrow.
I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person
by the way he/she handles these three things:
a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents,
You’ll miss Them when they’re gone from your life.
I’ve learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a life.
I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands;
You need to be able to throw something back.
I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart,
I usually make the right decision.
I’ve learned that even when I have pains,
I don’t have to be one.
I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone.
People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.
I’ve learned that people will forget what you did,
But people will never forget how you made them feel.

Random quotes

Victor Borge: "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.".

Waiting

I am waiting for: inspiration, permission, reassurance, my turn, more time, a better time, someone to be watching, an absence of risk, tomorrow, my ship to come in, my youth to return, my suit to come back from the cleaners, my boomerang to come back, the wind to freshen, time to run out……..procrastination….. the thief of time.

Random quotes

There is an Ethiopian proverb which says: "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion"

"… if in any doubt, talk it over with your colleagues"

Create your own network:

to exchange information
share problems
find solutions
regain perspective
get advice
give moral support
laugh together
swap stories
lessen paranoia
break the barriers

Attitude

Motivator Norman Vincent Peale says:

It is your attitude at the beginning of a task, more than anything else, that will determine success or failure.
It is your attitude toward life that will determine life’s attitude toward you.
You control your attitude.
Develop the attitude that there are more reasons why you should succeed than reasons why you should fail.
Control your thoughts and you will control your life.

Communication

Dr Kelly Gerling (2000) identifies the following barriers and blockers to organizational communication:

Physical obstacles- distance, different buildings, different staff rooms
Misused authority structures- where the "chain of command" as implied by the typical organizational chart, can inhibit the flow of healthy and necessary information and connections;
Problems of rank when it is used to push particular ideas and demean the thinking of others
Defensive behaviour
Traditional organizational habits – we often need to question why things are as they are- eg when we meet, where we meet, what and how we do things. Are our activities actually achieving the best they can in terms of morale, productivity and problem-solving.

Kelly suggests the following as methods for the promotion of enhanced organizational connection, respect and learning:

Creating group conversations – through circular meetings, establishing a topic for group conversations, using a facilitator, respecting group silences for reflection, exploring assumptions to ensure the creation of new agreed courses of action, appreciate others, to apologise and restore relationships
Telling stories – stories are a great way to convey and reinforce the values, motives, strengths and origins of a community. Stories create a sense of equality among people and help enhance relationships and co-operative behaviour.
Making music, having fun and playing games – everyone within our organization has amazing talent- put them in a group, give them some bells, drums, wooden instruments and presto…. They play great improvisational music. The patterns of interaction in making music are just like the patterns needed for a good group discussion; they include careful listening, allowing pauses, letting each person be a leader at different times, using differences to create a larger, better group performance, and stopping what you are doing when it doesn’t fit with the group needs. Education Queensland at all levels needs all our dance and music to help renew the spirit of our community.
Making presentations – many of the skills of oratory and presentation when learned and used can lead a group to learning together.
Listening and sharing information by managers – leaders, again at all levels in our organization, need to listen with an open mind and heart to the requests that people make. Staff do not necessarily want a "yes" to every request or a solution to every problem; they do want to be heard, to understand and participate in guiding the organization, while being treated with dignity and respect.

Random quotes

Entrepreneur Mark H McCormack in Success Secrets says:

" I love making lists but not because I need to remind myself how busy I am. I simply get a keen satisfaction and tactile thrill out of scratching out tasks that are done. To me the true sign of an organized executive is not just how many projects he or she can enumerate on a "to-do" list at the start – as if it is a legitimate symbol of their importance – but rather how many are crossed off at the close. My ideal "to do" list is unreadable at day’s end.

Random quotes

Jeffrey J Fox in How to become CEO said:

Make your staff feel;
Asked, not questioned;
Measured, not monitored;
People, not personnel;
Instrumental, not instruments;
Contributors, not costs;
Needed and heeded.

HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE

Five (5) lessons to make you think about the way we treat people.
1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady. During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello".

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2 - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain One night, at 11.30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console colour TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached.. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others" Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve. In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. "Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table, there, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies.. You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path. In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts. Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the colour returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away". Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

What Makes A Good Teacher

This was the heading on part of a major article on boys in schooling, published in The Australian on 6 January. The points made by the boys were:

Listens to what you have to say.
Respects you as a person; treats you like a friend and adult.
Is relaxed, enjoys their day, and is able to laugh, especially at mistakes.
Is flexible, adjusting rules and expectations to meet the needs of individuals and particular circumstances.
Explains the work. Makes the work interesting. Finds interesting things to do.
Does not humiliate you in front of the class.
Does not write slabs of work on the board to be copied.
Lets you talk and move about in the classroom.
Does not favour girls, or boys who do what they are told.
Does not keep picking on people who have a reputation, pushing them to retaliate.
Does not mark you down because of your behaviour.
Gives you a chance to muck up and learn from it.
does not keep telling you that you're no good and should leave school.

In most schools, fewer than 10% of their teachers were thought to meet the above criteria.

Hug

There is something in a simple hug
that alway warms the heart;
it welcomes us back home
and makes it easier to part."-Jill Wolf

Success is almost totally dependant upon drive, focus and persistence. The extra energy required to make an extra effort, to try another approach, to concentrate on the desired outcome, is the secret.

Integrity:

integrity means that one’s thoughts and feelings are completely integrated with one’s actions. It is the quality of being true to one’s self. As school leaders, dishonesty of any sought will slowly erode our integrity, and once shattered, it is very slow to be repaired. With integrity, we can inspire our staff into action; they will follow us because they understand and trust us. Errors in competency can be overcome, but errors in integrity cannot- we cannot hide the truth.

The Middle Wife

by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second-grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it to school and talk about it, they're welcome.
Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an infant. "This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday."

"First, Mum and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mum's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord." She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement. "Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mum starts saying and going, 'Oh, oh, oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. "She walked around the house for like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!'"

Now the kid's doing this hysterical duck walk, holding her back and groaning. "My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man." "They got my Mum to lie down in bed like this."
Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall. "And then, pop! My Mum had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!"

This kid has her legs spread and with her little hands are miming water flowing away. It was too much!
"Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push, and breathe, breathe.'" "They started counting, but never even got past ten." Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff, they all said it was from Mum's play-centre, so there must be a lot of stuff inside there."

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, if it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another Erica comes along.

"rules from the male side."

Learn to work the toilet seat. You’re a big girl. If it’s up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don’t hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

Saturday= sports. It’s like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

Shopping is not a sport. And NO, we are never going to think of it that way.

Crying is blackmail.

Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one. Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! JUST SAY IT.

"Yes" and "No" are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That’s what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem See a doctor.

Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

If you think you are fat, you probably are. Don’t ask us.

If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. NOT BOTH. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

Christopher Columbus did not need directions and nor do we.

All men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing’s wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

If you ask a question you don’t want an answer to, expect an answer you don’t want to hear.

When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine, really.

You have enough clothes and too many shoes.

I am in shape. Round is a shape.

Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know men really don’t mind that, it’s like camping.

Random quotes

You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.~ Wayne Gretzky ~

RISK IT

To laugh is to risk
being a fool.
To weep is to risk
appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another
is to risk involvement.
To express feelings is to risk
exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd
Is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk
not being loved in return.
To live is to risk
dying.
To hope is to risk
despair.To try is to risk
failure.
The person who risks nothing,
Does nothing,
Has nothing
and is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But they simply cannot learn,
Feel,
change,
grow,
love or live.
Risks must be taken because,
the greatest hazard in life
is to risk nothing.
Only a person who risks is free." ~Leo Buscalia

The Missing Assignment

(by Art Stiles - The Reading Teacher Vol.48, no.6 March 1995 )

Yes, ma'am;I'm sorry,
I fell asleep.
No, ma'am,
I ain't had nothing to eat

Yes, ma'am.
I know that
I should eat good,
and stay awake.

I know I should.
Well, last night
there was lots of noise,
'cause someone shot
the neighbour's boys.

And Mum came home
with a boyfriend,a
nd he got drunk
and beat her up again.

And he made me
go out and play
while the neighbours tried
to wash the blood away.

And I went in
about two o'clock
after the police asked me
why the boys was shot.

And when I got up
there wasn't no food;
and my Mum cussed me out.
She was in a bad mood.

But I'll stay awake;
and I'll pay attention.
No, ma'am. I don't
want to be in detention.

Twelve Rules for Raising Delinquent Children."

IN TEXAS, the police department has issued a leaflet entitled "Twelve Rules for Raising Delinquent Children." Here they are, as printed in the local Chamber of Commerce publication, "Business":

1. Begin with infancy to give the child everything he wants. In this way he will grow up to believe the world owes him a living.
2. When he picks up bad words, laugh at him. This will make him think he's cute. It will also encourage him to pick up "cuter phrases" that will blow off the top of your head later.
3. Never give him any spiritual training. Wait until he is 21, and then let him "decide for himself."
4. Avoid the use of the word "wrong." It may develop a guilt complex. This will condition him to believe later, when he is arrested for stealing a car, that society is against him and he is being persecuted.
5. Pick up everything he leaves lying around--books, shoes, or clothes. Do everything for him so that he will be experienced in throwing all responsibility on others.
6. Let him read any printed matter he can get his hands on. Be careful that the silverware and drinking glasses are sterilized, but don't worry about his mind feasting on garbage.
7. Quarrel frequently in the presence of your children. In this way they will not be too shocked when the home is broken up later.
8. Give the child all the spending money he wants. Never let him earn his. Why should he have things as tough as you did?
9. Satisfy his every craving for food, drink, and comfort. See that every sensual desire is gratified. Denial may lead to harmful frustration.
10. Take his part against neighbors, teachers, police men. They are all prejudiced against your child.
11. When he gets into real trouble, apologize to yourself by saying, "I never could do anything with him!"
12. Prepare yourself for a life of grief. You'll surely have it.

Random quotes

Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savoured. ~ Earl Nightingale ~

Random quotes

"Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are an eternity and you are the mirror." Gibran Kahlil

Checkout

We went towards the checkout line,
All were very long,
It didn’t matter which one we picked,
They all seemed equally wrong.
As we approached our chosen isle,
A man rushed in before us first,
He was keen to save himself some time,
And had an ego-driven thirst.
The aisle was 15 items or less,
He had 24 at my count,
He shouldn’t be in the aisle,
As his daughter pointed out.
He yelled abuse back at her,
And glared a challenge at me,
I pretended not to notice,
As there were other sights to see.
A lady lined up behind my spot,
Two tubes of toothpaste in her hand,
I invited her to go before us,
She didn’t understand.
I just said that it was silly,
For her to wait for me,
She thanked me quite fondly,
With compassionate sympathy.
The cranky man before her,
Refused to do the same,
People can be so sad and angry,
I think it is a shame.
Just as I was musing these impressions,
A worker came to me,
She invited us to come to the side,
She was opening a new isle, you see.
I asked the lady with the toothpaste,
To come over with us too,
She could go before us,
And then her job was through.
So, we both went through the checkout,
And looked for the angry man,
He was still five people from being served,
And at him I waved my hand.
I’m not a spiritual kind of person,
Such faith over before it begins,
But it’s nice to see that occasionally,
The good guy also wins.

Cheers

14 Ways to Build Self Esteem In Kids

1. Respond to each child individually-call him by name.
2. Take time to talk with the child about what's important to him/her.
3. Use positive guidance and suggestions whenever possible. Reinforce the behaviour you like.
4. Keep your expectations consistent with the child's stage of development and ability--be realistic
5. Give a child an opportunity to make choices and take responsibilities that fit his stage of development.
6. Provide opportunities for the child to succeed--challenge him/her when the chances of success are good.
7. Give a child quality time--it's more important than quantity
8. Compare a child's skills against his previous accomplishments--avoid comparing him to other children, especially brothers, sisters, and fellow classmates.
9. Avoid shaming or labelling a child.
10. Be a good model--children learn through watching adults.
11. React to the behaviour instead of the personality. ("I don't want the classroom cluttered with materials" instead of "You're a messy, bad boy.")
12. Give a child your recognition for his accomplishments
13. Accept the child's feelings--negative and positive--without judging him
14. Be your students’ mentor and cheerleader!

Photoshopped pumpkins!

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=7791&display=photoshop#entries

I'm not a gun fan, but I was more than a little impressed? disturbed? by the owrk of a person to develop a sentry gun, based around a gun and some old computer parts:

Find it at:

http://www.usmechatronics.com/old_page/turret.htm

Somebody said

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby . somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "Normal," is history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct . Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.

Somebody said being a mother is boring ...... Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good." Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices ..... Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbour's kitchen window.

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother…...Somebody never helped a fourth grade child with her maths.

Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the first…..Somebody doesn't have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books ...... Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labour and delivery .... Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten, or on a plane headed for military "boot camp."

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back ..... somebody never organized four giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married….... Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in- law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home .... Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her . Somebody isn't a mother.

Internal Voices

A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of success. Anon.

Tim Gallwey, college professor-turned tennis pro-turned corporate consultant, focuses his theory on the workplace. He says we have two internal voices:

Self 1 is the teacher voice: "Do this. Don’t do that. What a lousy shot!"
Self 2 is our human potential. We had it as children, learning to walk, for example, without any formal instruction. For most of us, our command-and-control Self 1 shouts down Self 2.

Gallwey proposes that our potential to learn and work productively, with enjoyment, comes only when we stop interfering with the process. To accomplish that, Gallwey offers three principles for learning and coaching: awareness, trust, and choice.

The Power of Nonjudgmental Awareness Rather than perceive an approaching ball—or work situation—as a threat, maintain a nonjudgmental focus on things as they are.

Trust in Self 2 Trust yourself and your natural capacity to learn. Let go of Self 1’s inferior control system. The heart of Gallwey’s process, this principle must be learned "over and over in each new situation."

Keep Choice with the Choice-maker As coach or principal, you realize that A) command-and-control will meet with resistance, and B) "when choices for learning and change are allowed to be self-initiated and self-regulated, they become more comprehensive as well as more enjoyable."

Always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the bright side of life (song from the movie 'Life of Brian')

In his book, Optimism: The Biology of Hope, Lionel Tiger (Tiger, 1995) argues cogently that optimism is not an optional characteristic in humans; it is as 'natural to man as his eyes that see, and as irreplaceable as hair.' Through evolution we have developed a species-wide tendency to overestimate moderately, the odds in our favour. In other words, optimism is a biological phenomenon. It seems that optimism has been central to the process of evolution. It has greatly influenced the way humans think, work, play and respond to fundamental issues such as birth and death. It is a force that has been used as a lever in the hand of politicians and a weapon in the hands of dictators. Both groups use optimism as a way of controlling people and harnessing them to a cause. If indeed, Tiger's belief that optimism is a biological phenomenon rooted in the genes is true, then it gives us another technique to use in people management processes.

Optimism appears to be socially desirable in all communities. Purveyors of optimism are generally accepted whereas those who spread doom and gloom, panic and hysteria, are treated with contempt. Many of the world's religions are adherents to the doctrine of optimism. The sufferings of this world, the vicissitudes of life, the pain of disease and death are all mitigated by the expectancy of some future favorable outcome, maybe not in this world but certainly in some other. Religions allow communities to organize their fears and their futures by establishing a set of rules and beliefs for everyone to follow. In this way earthly fears are relegated to the arena of trivia and society becomes more manageable.

Seligman (1991) has spent many years researching the concept of optimism and pessimism through his work on attributional styles. He has found that people with an optimistic attributional style will attribute negative events differently to those with a pessimistic explanatory style. When setbacks occur, pessimists blame themselves. 'I am just no good,' or 'Nobody wants me,' are phrases that soon flow from the lips of such people. They believe the cause of their misfortune lies within them rather than being due to external or extenuating circumstances. Pessimists also believe that misfortune is long lasting ('Things will never get better') or repetitive ('If I have failed once, it will happen again'). It is also global or 'pervasive', that is, 'If misfortune befalls me in one part of my life, then it will happen to my whole life.' These three characteristics of the pessimistic explanatory style for negative events are known as the three Ps – Personal, Permanent and Pervasive.
Positive Imaging
One of the most effective ways to prevent rumination is to replace it with positive self-talk, together with imaginal thinking or 'image-ination'. Imaginal thinking involves constructing a desired future model of a situation you would like to experience and then running that model several times over so that it is programmed into your mind. The 'movie' you create should also have a sound track containing the words you would like to hear yourself saying. The trick is to become your own 'Steven Spielberg' and create the blockbuster movie of all time, starring yourself! As well as vision and sound, your internal movie must also create a feeling for you. You need to decide how you would like to be feeling during the future event you are creating. Do you want to feel relaxed, confident, powerful, happy, forceful etc? If you want to be confident and relaxed throughout the 'movie' then you need to edit into your sound track a repetitive 'feelings' track where your movie-self repeats over and over again, "I am relaxed. I am confident…."

Random quotes

"What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve."Napoleon Hill (Author of Think and Grow Rich)

Ass essment :)

Scriven in 1995 provides a sense of the different levels of student involvement in assessment. Starting with very superficial involvement, each level brings students further into the actual assessment equation. Students can do the following:
Take the test and receive the grade;

Be invited to offer the teacher comments on how to improve the test;
Suggest possible assessment exercises;
Actually develop assessment exercises;
Assist the teacher in devising the scoring criteria;
Create the scoring criteria on their own;
Apply scoring criteria to the evaluation of their own performance;
Come to understand how assessment and evaluation affect their own academic success;
Come and see how their own self-assessment relates to the teacher’s assessment and to their own academic success.

Random quotes

"Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much."
--Oscar Wilde

Time warp

Once upon a time an unsuspecting person fell into a space-time warp and ended up in a place where complex jargon is used in place of everyday words, where huge concepts are meant to be communicated to unreceptive groups in exasperatingly short periods of time, and, most maddening, where the people expected to work under these conditions get no respect. In other words, the person fell right into the shoes of a modern teacher!

What is a leader?

In their landmark study of visionary companies, James Collins and Jerry Porras (1997) define leaders as individuals who "displayed high levels of persistence, overcame significant obstacles, attracted dedicated people, influenced groups of people toward the achievement of goals, and played key roles in guiding their companies through crucial episodes in their history."