Here is a very special TED Talk. See below for the 8-minute Talk by Adora Svitak — "What Adults Can Learn From Kids." As of this blog post it has 7M views.
Dane's Education Blog
. . . insights on children and parenting and a resource for educators and parents on children, teaching, learning, and leadership.
Friday, April 12, 2024
Friday, March 29, 2024
"How every child can thrive by five"
This 7 minute TED Talk by seven-year-old Molly Wright is fantastic! Here is the introduction to this 11M viewed Talk:
"What if I was to tell you that a game of peek-a-boo could change the world?" asks seven-year-old Molly Wright, one of the youngest-ever TED speakers. . . "
Saturday, March 9, 2024
"How AI could save (not destroy) education"
Here is a 5-star TED Talk for educators from the popular Sal Khan. He has such a good message—on the positive side—for AI.
If you have not met up with Sal Khan, click over to his Khan Academy.
Friday, February 16, 2024
Laugh at Yourself
Here are two quotes from the January 26, 2024 JAM – "Laugh at Yourself":
"It is so important to not take yourself too seriously. Laughing at yourself shows humility and brings us closer together."
"When you can laugh at yourself it displays a softened ego. It shows that you do not think you are better than others. Learn to laugh at yourself."
Friday, January 26, 2024
How to Know a Person
Author and NYTimes columnist, David Brooks's, newest book is so helpful in understanding and building relations with others, especially for parents and teachers working with each other in support of child education and role modeling.
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Does AI Actually Understand Us?
"Is AI [Artificial Intelligence] as smart as it seems? Exploring the 'brain' behind machine learning, neural networker Alona Fyshe delves into the language processing abilities of talkative tech (like the groundbreaking chatbot and internet obsession ChatGPT) and explains how different it is from your own brain - even though it can sound convincingly human." (From TED Talk caption)
Here is her TED Talk on the subject. It is well done and helps in building a better understanding of AI.
Friday, December 15, 2023
Momentum – Dr. Maria Montessori Caring for Children
Friday, November 24, 2023
Helping Children - 7 Ways to Find More Meaning in Your Life
I discovered GoodRx from a friend and physician and how it supports ongoing health information.
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Teaching Our Children Humanity
Saturday, October 14, 2023
There's more to life than being happy
In Emily Esfahani Smith's TED Talk, she builds "there's more to life than being happy" with 4 pillars of a meaningful life:
1) Belonging
2) Purpose
3) Transcendence — stepping beyond yourself
4) Storytelling
Learn more by watching her 12-minute TED Talk video.
Saturday, September 23, 2023
Contact
Humankind A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman is powerful and gives a comprehensive look at the history of humanity. It crosses paths with Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens.
There is one chapter — "The Best Remedy For Hate, Injustice and Prejudice" — that is excellent on presenting the best remedy for these humanity issues, and the remedy is "CONTACT." Here is an excerpt (page 358) from that chapter:
"Contact engenders more trust, more solidarity and more mutual kindness. It helps you see the world through other people's eyes. Moreover, it changes you as a person, because individuals with a diverse group of friends are more tolerant towards strangers. And contact is contagious: when you see a neighbor getting along with others, it makes you rethink your own biases."
Saturday, September 2, 2023
Teaching Children
A beautiful JAM (Inspiration for all in Just A Minute) lesson for parents, teachers, and adults who care for children.
Friday, August 11, 2023
Volunteering — Its Value to Others and Life
Throughout my career and life, volunteering has been so important, especially once I retired. Helping children, schools, older folks, nonprofit organizations, and those in need have become a goal for my wife and me. I had the opportunity to share my experiences with volunteering via an interview for the Granite Senior Journal, a New Hampshire quarterly publication. The picture you see (with some others) in the article appears in this 2023 spring issue. Here is the link to the interview article: "A 'consultering' life — Staying Active Through Work, Volunteering and Leisure." Give it a read and see what you think.
Saturday, July 22, 2023
A Follow-up to - The Body Keeps the Score Book
"How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime" by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, is a very important follow-up to my April 28, 2023 blogpost "The Body Keeps the Score."
Take 15 minutes to hear what Dr. Harris has to say in her TED Talk. What she has to say and her presentation are so good!
Monday, July 3, 2023
Nutrition, Exercise, Socialize
Three important practices in life: Nutrition, Exercise, and Socialize . . .
The Good Life by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schultz is such a good resource for helping us with socializing and building relationships that are so critical to happiness in our lives. "Technologies like the smartphone and social media now play a role in shaping some of the most intimate parts of our lives. Quite often, when we connect with another person, there is a device and a piece of software between us." (page 126)
AND, give some thought to AI (Artificial Intelligence) and what it is doing to humanity at this point!
Saturday, June 10, 2023
A Look at AI (Artificial Intelligence) via Dr. Montessori's Great Lessons
With the advent and persistence of AI and its impact on humanity, and with much more to come, I reviewed Dr. Montessori's Five Great Lessons — that are a part of the article — to see how they might be reviewed and used to prepare us for the unanticipated realities of AI and to make sure that love never goes away from our lives.
We have so much to do for ourselves AND our children to help all of us manage the rise in AI.
Friday, May 19, 2023
When Should You Reach Out to an Old Friend or Colleague?
Here is a 96-second podcast by author Daniel Pink. Short as they always are, Daniel gives excellent advice. Watch and listen to what he has to say about reaching out to an old friend or colleague.
Friday, April 28, 2023
The Body Keeps the Score
I will let Lara Hammock at Marble Jar Channel give you her excellent summary of the book. Invest the 10 minutes to view this excellent video.
Saturday, April 8, 2023
The True Way Children Teach
Here is a beautiful story about Teddy, Mrs. Thompson—his elementary teacher—and how she adjusted her teaching based on what Teddy taught her. This video is 5:47 long, well worth investing the time, and it may bring tears to your eyes.
Friday, March 17, 2023
The Light We Carry
Friday, February 24, 2023
Would versus Could
When you watch this Daniel Pink research-based two minute Pinkcast, you will get some simple, powerful advice when you are confronted with a problem.
Saturday, February 4, 2023
Using Judgement in Life & Work
Great advice from Sarah Gardner in the January 27 Weekly JAM (Just A Minute).
"I think one of the things we struggle with the most is judgement. Judgement of ourselves, judgement of others, judgement of beliefs and ideas...honestly, judgement of life. It's important to try to be better and ask the world to be better but not when it comes from a place of judgement.
Judgement is born and bred from our ego. It's that voice in our head that says you have control over what is not in your control. It's the voice in our head that says you have control over what is not in your control. It's the voice that says you are not equal to others. It's the voice of the past and the voice of the future. Clearing the mind of judgement allows for calm and equanimity.
Judgement is always self-absorbed. We judge because we are dissatisfied with how things are and we desire to have things be the way we want them to be. Remember: Life just is...we put the meaning to it."
Friday, January 13, 2023
Unstoppable Us — Yuval Noah Harari Talks to Young Readers
Friday, December 23, 2022
Chatter
"The Voice in Our Heads, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It" is part of the title of the book Chatter—a book that gives a great deal of good information on how to deal with the chatter in our heads. View this brief interview to capture the essence of Ethan Kross and his powerful book.
Friday, December 2, 2022
Five Mindsets
JAM (Just A Minute) — the amount of time that it takes to read a weekly message that gives great, warm advice. Go to the JAM website to learn more.
Friday, November 11, 2022
Think Again With Adam Grant
Here is a great video to help you get to know Adam Grant.
Friday, October 21, 2022
Class versus Caste via a Middle Reader
Class Act is a terrific graphic novel that does an admirable job in helping students learn/understand some of the class issues they face in school and life, especially as they work their way through preadolescence.
Saturday, October 1, 2022
Three Important Words From Daniel Pink
Well known author Daniel Pink's Pinkcast 4.27 is so good—as are all of his Pinkcasts. His latest one which is 131 seconds long talks about "how to avoid overreacting to ugly problems and annoying complaints."
Daniel Pink has always been a star in my leadership and life lessons. I interviewed him in 2010; here is a link to that article.
Go to his website to learn more about his wonderful work.
Saturday, September 10, 2022
How to Win Friends and Influence People
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie was first published in 1939 and was recently updated and published in May of 2022. My first reading about Carnegie (via Wikipedia) is a wonderful story unto itself. Here is a sample of how this precious book works with emotional intelligence to help you win friends and influence people:
"In a nutshell six ways to make people like you:
1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember a person's name to that person is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important — and do it sincerely." (page 117)
More Dale Carnegie information at the Carnegie website.
Friday, August 19, 2022
Meet Author Jason Reynolds
In case you have not already met author Jason Reynolds, I read three books by him and cannot recommend him enough. What impressed me the most was his 2015 book All American Boys and how he captured the May 25, 2020 George Floyd disaster long before it occurred.
This 10-minute video of Jason Reynolds being interviewed by Stephen Colbert gives a great impression of who Jason is as an author dedicated to middle/high school students and young adult readers . . .