Author Archive
Friday, January 18th, 2019
Token Ideas for Guest Speakers by Jenna Smith
deals with how groups and organizations can honor guest speakers. She is associated with EDCO Awards & Specialties, which is a manufacturer of corporate recognition items including crystal awards, promotional products and trophies. Be sure to check them out. Thanks Jenna.
- Finding an effective speaker is one of the most important phases of conducting a seminar or a conference. Speakers need to be notified weeks or even months in advance, especially if they are a well-known personality, an inspirational person, or someone who has a major contribution in different fields of study. Speakers are willing to take time off from their jobs, and they are looking forward to speaking in front of a large audience, lecturing about their expertise and sharing new knowledge. The audience is expected to listen to the speakers, and take down notes about the topics that they will most likely cover. At the end of every seminar or conference, the speakers are given a token of appreciation, as a form of gratitude from the organizers of the event.
- The token of appreciation is usually given in the form of an engraved plaques, but it depends on how much budget was allocated for the tokens. Most of the time, plaques are given out to speakers because they are sold everywhere. Plaques are also affordable and can be displayed on the speaker’s office to highlight the event. However, plaques are quickly becoming old fashioned, and event organizers in the present have been thinking about new ideas on what other tokens they could provide to the speakers aside from the usual plaque. The thing that can be given to a speaker varies from organization to organization, and it all boils down to how much they are willing to shell out. The following list is some of the best gifts that can be given to speakers and other guests of honor:
Personalized Items
- Anything that is personalized would be a great gift to speakers. Personalized whiskey, pens, and notebooks are some of the most common gifts handed out to speakers. Handing out a personalized item to a speaker would make them feel special, and they will highly appreciate this type of gift. One of the best tips that organizers should consider would be asking the speaker about their personal preferences so that the speaker would enjoy the gift better. Most of the time, these personalized items that are given to speakers are left untouched. These tokens end up being displayed on the speaker’s office, while others are making use of it.
Vouchers
- It might sound ridiculous to give a voucher to a speaker, but it is one of the most common trends in the world today. Vouchers for restaurants, entertainment, and experiences have become common, and most speakers will be more than happy to accept the gift. They are also looking forward to a great weekend or holidays with their family, and having a voucher on hand would be a great way to save a lot of money from paying for the entrance, food, and so much more.
Gadgets and Accessories
- For organizers who have a lot of budget for their program, they could purchase a new gadget for their speakers which they can use for further talks. However, they can also provide them with accessories that they can use, like power banks and tablet covers. Power banks and external batteries would be a great token especially if they are relying on their smartphones to discuss their topics. Having a low battery is inconvenient, but with a power bank on hand, they would never think of running out of batteries again. Tablet covers can also be a great token to speakers, and there are a lot of beautifully made products available online. Mobile speakers would also work, especially if they will be speaking in a location where speakers are limited.
Artistic Crafts
- Bobbleheads, statuettes, and caricatures are some of the best tokens that can be given to the speaker. These gifts also have a touch of personalization, and it would have a high sense of appeal to those who will be receiving it.
Old School Handwritten Note
- If the organizers do not have enough budget to buy a token of appreciation, they could make an old-style note instead. Speakers will appreciate these notes, especially if the audience will participate. Old-style notes have their own charm that makes them an ideal token for speakers. However, remember that a physical pen with a handwritten note would work best. The same charm does not work for printed letters and emails
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Monday, December 24th, 2018
Get It Done: The 21-day Mind Hack System to Double Your Productivity and Finish What You Start by Michael Mackintosh offers sound advice for people prone to procrastination and who suffer from the endless disruptions that exist in our hi-tech world. If this sounds like you be sure to get a copy along with one for your school’s professional development library.
Introduction
- This book is aimed at creative entrepreneurs but I believe that educational leaders can learn from it as well. It makes very big promises, but depending on where you are it should help you focus on what’s important, increase your productivity, and finish your most important projects. It also reminds us all to build in time for rest, relaxation, and celebrating our accomplishments.
Part I – 11 Essential Mind Hacks to Make Things Happen
- 1. The Prolonged Pain or the Short-Lived Pain: If you continue doing things that are inefficient and less effective you are inviting long-term pain. Change in the near term can be painful too, but if it leads to success you won’t have to deal with it in the long-term.
- 2. The Defining Choice: Acting differently and thinking differently is a choice. Keep in mind it is the only way you are likely to get different results.
- 3. The 80/20 Rule: This rule states that 80% of your input or effort leads to 20% of your outputs or results. Therefore, the opposite has to be true that 20% of your effort leads to 80% of your results. The trick is to identify the activities that produce 20% of your output and either do them less or do them when you are not so sharp.
- 4. Good is Good Enough: The old saying “the perfect is the enemy of the good” applies here. It is important sometimes to stop when you have reached the good enough point in a job unless it’s a job that has to be perfect like a computer program.
- 5. The Delusion of Time Management: The idea here is that you only have NOW in terms of doing something. Even if you are thinking about the future you are doing it NOW. Trying to micromanage your schedule is not likely to lead to great productivity. Rather than thinking about managing time, think about managing your thoughts, words, actions, energy, and focus. As you move through the day ask if what you are doing is moving directly toward your goals. Make your most important work a priority. Organize your day to make the most of your energy. If you are a morning person like me, save the most important work for the morning. (Doug: Yes, I’m writing this in the morning.) Recognize when you are a tired, hungry, or distracted and do what it takes to recharge. It’s not how much time you put into something, it’s how much high-quality energy you invest.
- 6. The Resistance: You can’t do something new, significant, and meaningful without resistance so get ready for it. Some can come from your lower self that is comfortable with the status quo. Be alert and look for it within and without so you can take it on.
- 7. Fears and Hallucinations: Fears can be real or irrational. They can be healthy and necessary for success. They can also arise when it’s not required. Unconscious fears include the unknown, failure, and not being good enough. Once you identify them you can accept that they only exist in your mind. This should help prevent the destructive worry that come with them.
- 8. Focus: You don’t want to try to make all of your dreams come true at the same time. The idea here is to bring one idea to completion before you begin another one. Fear could be part of the problem for people who try to do too many things at once.
- 9. How to Overcome Self-Doubt: This can sabotage you before you begin. Michael suggests that you focus on the people who will be helped if you complete what you are doing and realize that self-doubt, like most fears, is also irrational.
- 10. Do It Now: Everything happens in the now, and now won’t last forever. This should help you get going and avoid procrastination.
- 11. Do Less Work to Get More Done: You don’t do your best work when you work too hard. You are more likely to make mistakes and quality is likely to go downhill. Be sure to build rest and recharge into your game plan. Sleeping on a problem or just taking a walk can help you solve it. You are also more likely to screw up your family life and other important relationships. You still have to work hard, but working too hard can even make your sick.
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books, Leadership Books | Comments Off on Get It Done: The 21-day Mind Hack System to Double Your Productivity and Finish What You Start by Michael Mackintosh
Sunday, December 23rd, 2018
In order to spread the word about how policymakers and corporate leaders are messing up education and what we can do, I published a book this year. I’ve been flattered by the positive feedback so if you haven’t read it yet it’s time to take a taste. Just scan the table of contents below and find your favorite topic. If you are having a hard time deciding, go for chapter 19 as it’s a topic I haven’t seen covered elsewhere. Thanks for your support.
Here Is the Deal
- Below are the chapter titles from my book Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science, It’s Way More Complex: What’s Wrong With Education and How to Fix Some of It. As my Christmas gift to you, I’m offering the introduction and a free chapter of your choice with no strings attached. Just select your favorite and send me an email with the chapter number to dgreen@stny.rr.com. The chapters are all self-contained so they can be read in any order. If you like the free sample you can purchase the book in softcover or Kindle editions at Amazon. You can also read an executive summary on my blog.
Chapter Titles – Just Pick Your Favorite
- 2. Education Isn’t Rocket Science, It’s Way More Complex
3. How to Cheat on Standardized Tests and Not Get Caught
4. Are You Smarter Than Bill Gates?
5. Failing at the Business of School
6.Achievement Gaps and Ethnic Groups
7.The Drive to Fire Underperforming Teachers Will Not Improve Our Schools
8. Special Education Shouldn’t Be Special
9. If Gifted Lessons Are So Good, Why Can’t All Students Participate?
10. Education Drugs: Learning on Steroids
11. Kindergarten is the New 1st Grade
12. Math Class: The Champ at Slowing Down the Fast Learners.
13.Not Ready for College? Flunk Gym.
14.Coding for Everyone? Are You Serious Mr. President?
15. SAT’s for All? One More Bad Idea From the Political Elite
16. Forging Strong Relationships With Students Should Be Top Of Your To Do List.
17. Good Luck Learning a Foreign Language in American Schools?
18.The Arts: One More Victim of Common Core Testing.
19.Teachers/Parents: don’t run away from discussing porn.
20. It’s Time For An Assessment Revolution: Give Students Access To The Internet
In Exams And Scrap Traditional Grades.
21. Why Would Anyone Let Their Kid Play Football or Anything Else?
22. Bathrooms and Locker Rooms: A New Battlefield
23. The Drive To Fire Underperforming Teachers Will Not Improve Our Schools
24. If Education Is Going To Improve, We Must Work On Improving Initial
Teacher Training
25. Five Ways Hectically Busy School Leaders Can Stay On Track
26. Think About How To Do It Right, Rather Than Doing It Over
27. As A Teacher, It’s Important To Get Good At What You Don’t Like To Do
28. A Word About Flipping Your Class
29. Can We Save Opera? The Barriers to Digging the World’s Greatest Art Form
Posted in Doug's Original Work | Comments Off on My Christmas Present to You – A Free Chapter From My Book
Sunday, December 16th, 2018
Just in time for Christmas. Here is an executive summary of my recent book. Based on the feedback I received so far, it would make an excellent present for any educators and parents with kids in school. Also, consider getting a copy for any policymakers you know.I hope you like it.
Click here to buy at Amazon
1. Introduction
- Teaching is tricky business. If it were as easy as rocket science, which we seem to have figured out, all students would be learning as fast as their individual brains would allow. This implies that they would learn at their own individual pace, which would cause the gaps between the faster learners and the slower learners to gradually increase.
- Unfortunately, our current set of reforms driven by the corporate/ political complex gives the same tests to students each year based on their born on date, regardless of their ability. It also expects teachers to close the gaps between slow and fast learners. One way to do this is to slow down the fast learners. In this book, Dr. Green explains why the current reforms and out-dated teaching methods need to go and just where we might head.
2. Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science; It’s Way More Complex
- It’s clear that we understand how rockets work as we have sent them all around the solar system and beyond. The human brain, however, which is the learning playground for students and teachers is much more complex and less understood. Promising ideas in education spread slowly, if at all, because of a resistance to change and federally imposed standardized testing. Thanks to the media, however, the public doesn’t realize this and they think that teachers are generally doing a bad job. They also think that all students should be able to achieve at high levels, which is nonsense. We all know that some students are more capable at cognitive tasks than others.
3. The Pressure On Teachers To Get Good Test Scores Makes It Inevitable They Will Cheat
- When the government encouraged by business leaders imposes high-states tests on schools, three things can happen. First, some will cheat and many have. Second, most will try to game the system with endless test prep that brings with it a lot of bad teaching practice. Finally, some will just fail. Schools will be closed and careers will be negatively impacted or ended altogether. This chapter documents some of the cheating and explains the different ways that teachers can cheat. It also suggests that teachers work to create engaging lessons and let the tests take care of themselves. If they do, test scores are unlikely to go down and just might go up.
4. Are You Smarter Than Bill Gates?
- Bill isn’t the only member of the corporate class pushing for test-based accountability, he is just the most famous and has the most wealth to push his ideas. Dr. Green suspects that when Bill wants to cure some disease, he reaches out to experts in the field. When it comes to education, it seems that he thinks he already knows the answers. Meanwhile, it’s hard to find any real expert in the field who thinks the current reforms are a good idea.
5. Failing at the Business of Schools
- Unlike businesses, schools cannot control their raw materials. They just take the students that their parents drop off. Most are also run from the top by a school board composed of elected volunteers who for the most part lack any serious educational expertise. For these reasons, trying to hold schools to business standards makes no sense. It also makes no sense to hold all schools to the same standard as their raw materials vary.
6. Achievement Gaps and Ethnic Groups
- When advocates for blacks, Hispanics, and poor kids see that that whites and Asians perform better on standardized tests, they expect schools to work on closing the gaps. Ironically, if schools did a perfect job of letting every student learn as fast as possible, the gaps would increase. Doug maintains that the best way to close the gaps is to slow down the fast learners, which some schools do well. He also points out that the subgroups themselves are arbitrary and don’t make much sense. For example, why are Spanish speakers the only group based on the language they speak when more people speak English and Chinese? People from China and India are very different in appearance and culture, yet they are in the same group.
Posted in Book Summaries, Education Books, Leadership Books | Comments Off on Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science, It’s Way More Complex: What’s Wrong With Education and How to Fix Some of It by Doug Green
Thursday, December 13th, 2018
Tips for Teaching Your Kids How to Take Quality Photos by Emily Ford looks at some of the top tips for encouraging your kids to get into photography. Whether you’re a professional photographer or a keen amateur, you can easily implement these with your children.
Introduction
- Photography is a skill that can take many years to perfect. The rewards can be great, but it takes time and effort that isn’t always available if you have a busy schedule. If your kids start showing an interest in photography, you can do them a huge favor by teaching them how to take quality photos early on. Doing so will give them an excellent foundation for developing their skills as a photographer. It can also bring you closer together as you enjoy a shared hobby.
1. Have Fun
- Photography shouldn’t be a chore, particularly at a young age. There’s much to be said for the charm and unique perspective that a child can bring through a lens. For both of you, it’s important that this pastime is something you can enjoy together. Encouraging your child to have fun with the camera is invaluable.
2. Practice Together and Review
- This point is somewhat linked to the first point. You’ll want photography to be something you practice together at times, sharing that fun and excitement. With the invent of digital photography, you don’t have to worry about wasting film. Therefore, you should encourage them to take as many photos as they like. You can review them together and look at which ones are good and why.
3. Holding the Camera
- It may seem like common sense to you, but holding a digital camera isn’t always intuitive to young photographers. Take the time to show your child how to hold a camera. This allows them to steady the camera and capture better photographs. It also means that they’ll be able to frame their shots better. Keeping the camera straight is important and comes from holding the camera correctly.
4. Backgrounds and Foregrounds
- Many adults struggle with these aspects of photography, so forming good habits from an early age can be incredibly useful. Teach your child to look at the elements that make up the background and foreground. Show them how to look for clutter and unnecessary things that will mean photos look messy.
5. Get in Close
- When using a camera, many people seem reluctant to move too close to their subject. They’ll rely on zoom lenses or simply take the photo from a distance. Doing this means that the end result lacks focus. Show your kids that it’s ok to get up close to the subject (provided they don’t mind that!) to give a clearer focus on the subject.
6. Look for Back Light Situations
- Taking a photograph with lots of light behind your subject will cause your subject to come out too dark. Common situations occur where the sun or a window during the day is behind your subject. To avoid this you can tell your camera to use the light coming from the subject to determine exposure rather than light coming from a bright background. Modern cell phones make this easy. All you have to do is tap on your finger on the subject on your screen and the cell phone will use the light coming from your subject to adjust exposure.
7. Landscape or Portriat
- Make sure your child understands the difference between holding the camera so the long side is up and down (portrait) or left and right (landscape). As the names imply, the first is fine for taking pictures of people fairly close up, while the second is best when the content of the photo contains mostly backgrounds. A lot of people take too many pictures in the portrait position as this is the way they usually hold their cell phone when they use it. Most photos, however, will look better in the landscape position.
7. In Conclusion
- Of course, these are just some of the basics of photography that can help your child improve. Depending on their age, you may also want to cover things such as how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO work together. However, the more complex elements should be saved until they’re ready and able to learn. Also, be sure to have your children evaluate their own work. This will help them become better critical thinkers.
Emily Ford
- Emily is a blogger for thephototeam.co.uk. She has been a regular contributor to sites talking about the newest trends in photography and event management. When she’s not writing, she enjoys, cooking, hiking and pretty much anything outdoors.
Posted in Guest Posts | Comments Off on Tips for Teaching Your Kids How to Take Quality Photos by Emily Ford
