Edited from Nurturing Good Habits Should Be a Habit:

* People do more things through habit than through reason.

* Habits make or mar one’s fortune.

* Habit is second nature.

* Man is a slave of habits.

* Custom in infancy becomes nature in old age.

Since habits are formed by repetition, the Competency Cycle aka the Four Phases of Learning come into play:

The Four Stages

__Unconscious incompetence__

The individual neither understands or knows how to do something, nor recognizes the deficit or has a desire to address it.
__Conscious incompetence__

Though the individual does not understand or know how to do something, he or she does recognize the deficit, without yet addressing it.
__Conscious competence__

The individual understands or knows how to do something. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires a great deal of consciousness or concentration.
__Unconscious competence__

The individual has had so much practice with a skill that it becomes “second nature” and can be performed easily (often without concentrating too deeply). He or she may or may not be able teach it to others, depending upon how and when it was learned.
Though all this may be relevant from the point of view of learning a new skill or enhancing an old skill, from another perspective, after one has formed a habit and is able to do it unconsciously, one should still do it consciously to live intensely. Practicing the art of living consciously develops your presence, which according to some psychologists is an “occupational therapy” and very good for stress management.

Why not start a blog today and write in it, each day, about what you’ve done to make your goal a habit?  As is all the rage, do a 30 Day Experiment blog.  You have nothing to lose, since those 30 days are going to pass anyway — you might as well go for it!  In a matter of days, you’ll have integrated some new life-enhancing habits that benefit you in every area of your life.

“Even outside the humanities it is possible that we might be overeducated. This is particularly so in those increasingly frequent cases where supply leads demand.

This comes about because many people, quite realistically, see education as the key to advancement in life. They therefore want to get a better education for themselves or for their children. For this reason they support political moves to make education free and more widely available.

There is a fallacy of composition involved here, however. If everybody acquires a better education my better education will not mean much. When competing to get the best jobs I will be no better off in comparison with others than I was before.

What has happened is that the standard required to have a chance of getting a particular job has risen. In future, no-one will get such a job unless society has made a bigger and bigger investment in his education.

Where once the completion of primary school was sufficient qualification for me to become a clerk in the Public Service, the Public Service is now even employing university graduates as clerks. Where does the spiral stop? How long will it be before even the garbage man has to have a university degree?”

Advice for special educators to help them deal with the many stresses that come with the job:

Teachers are responsible for their own experience, whether that be stress, joy, or frustration. That said, special education teachers face numerous stresses, such as lack of opportunity, too many students, and students who have emotional issues that accompany their disability. As result, teachers can feel that the world expects them to do everything and think, “They should appreciate me more.”

With these types of thoughts, you are not accepting world as it is, and that brings on more stress. To expect appreciation when everyone in the school system is so overworked is like expecting the wall to turn into a car. It won’t happen. If you want appreciation, you must appreciate yourself.

How to appreciate yourself:

Two ways to appreciate yourself are the victory log and mirror exercise. For the mirror exercise, stand in front of a mirror, make eye contact, and say “Linda, I want to appreciate you for the following things today: you taught 32 kids and didn’t lose your mind, you spent quality time with Bob after school, you made your lesson plans for tomorrow, you exercised, and now you’re ready to go to bed.” End with phrase, “I love you.” Also, give to others what you are looking for yourself. If you are underappreciated, be more appreciating….to your kids, other teachers, your family.

How the mirror exercise works:

The reason it works is that talking to yourself positively replaces the negative thoughts. You can’t get rid of negative self-talk unless you replace it with something else. You must do the mirror exercise for 30 days, because that’s how long it takes to form new neural pathways in the brain.

Here’s another way to control negative self-talk. When I get critical self-talk, I tell it, “Next time I will….” Then I ask, “Is there anything else you have? If not, then shut up!” The reason we repeatedly engage in critical self-talk is that it is not sure you got the message.

Use a victory log to emphasize good things:

For the victory log, every day write down all the little victories you had as teacher. Teachers have this kind of experience: they may have 28 kids in their class, 5 kids didn’t understand a lesson and 23 got it. What do teachers think about? The students who didn’t get it. Teachers expect perfection of themselves. There’s no way to reach every kid in class every day, and this is especially so with special education. Teachers must remember that they don’t have to get it perfect. They are never finished with their kids, and the miracle may happen in month nine.

Download the victory log in .pdf here.

5 things teachers can do to improve their lives:

1. Find a way to master stress reduction, whether than be through yoga, the gym, a massage… I recommend that teachers get a massage once a week. Teachers will ask, how can I afford that? I took a class with my wife and we traded massages. If you’re not married, find a friend or learn how through a book.

2. Learn to meditate. Teachers needsome way to slow down at the end of the day and transition into their personal lives. Meditation is underused in education.

3. Incorporate transition rituals into their lives. In The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal, the authors studied professional tennis players and found that the really good players always took a micro break before their next shot. They closed their eyes, exhaled, relaxed, and refocused.

Teachers need to find a transition ritual for the switch from work to home. Instead, when they come home from school, they instantly jump into another task. The transition ritual may be a walk around the block, 10 minutes of yoga or meditation, or playing their favorite music for 15 minutes. Also, if teachers can take a break during the day—any chance at all—(and often there’s not) just take two-three minutes to close their eyes, breathe, and relax their shoulders. That’s so valuable for people.

4. Look for at least one person they can have as sounding board, an accountability partner. Teachers can share frustrations with their accountability partner, but they can’t stop there. They have to take the next step: what’s the solution or what is a different response I can do tomorrow or next week that will take me in the direction I want to go. That might be taking a seminar, listening to a tape…. Teachers should meet weekly with their accountability partner and talk about their success from last week, their frustrations, and action steps to overcome obstacles.

Also, teachers shouldn’t join the “Ain’t It Awful Club,” (often the Teachers’ Lounge) where teachers moan about things and then go back to the classroom. Instead, work with your accountability partner about how to deal with challenges, commit to action steps to take before meeting again, and then evaluate those steps. This process leads to constant and never ending improvement instead of resenting the way things are and feeling frustrated.

5. Commit to some kind of personal development path and take two seminars a year. Everything improves when teachers focus on their own growth. As you become more clear about psychological processes, you become masterful in helping kids deal with theirs.

Asking for feedback improves their teaching abilities:

To improve as educators, teachers need feedback. Once a week, they should ask their kids, “On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate me as a teacher and why?”

It is scary. Teachers think they will hear bad stuff. But bad stuff exists whether we hear it or not, and we can’t fix things if we don’t know about them. Teachers should also ask a follow up question: If my score is less than 10, what would it take to make it a 10? You might get responses like, “You never make eye contact, you always tell me what’s wrong with me, you need to reward us, you need to be more fun, don’t yell so much.” Students will tell you want they want, and then teachers can bring corrections into the classroom. Teachers can do the same thing with parents.

Also, invite your colleagues to observe you. Visit each other’s classroom and give feedback.

Use a Mastermind Group of teachers to help people achieve their goals:

In a Mastermind Group, six-eight folks meet once a week. Each person receives eight minutes to talk about any thing they want and ask advice. It’s very powerful. Everyone gets attention about some issue in his or her life. For educators, it could be, “Here’s my grant proposal. Please read it and give me feedback. Does anyone have resources for information about this topic?”

Improving the lives of their students beyond the teaching and counseling they already do:

1. If they do only one thing, teachers should do Heart or Circle Talks. Many kids go to school and are never the center of one person’s attention. Feeling lovable and capable leads to competence. To learn that you are lovable, you need to be listened to, encouraged to go for your dreams, and know that your desires are normal. Circle Talks teach students listening skills, gives them the opportunity to be the focus of attention without interruption, and builds self-esteem. Just take 10 minutes a day and let students talk about meaningful topics, such as what would you do if you could do anything in world or what do you think about and feel about? If kids had an opportunity to express their feelings in a safe space, a lot of their acting out would be released and we would not have these kinds of issues. In the beginning, have students share with their partner or group. When they share in small groups and nothing bad happens, they learn they can share with large groups.

How to implement Heart or Circle Talks:

The small groups should meet three times week, so the kids can bond together. The teacher picks the groups, which are very heterogeneous. We want cross-fertilization between groups. Break the class into six-eight kids and keep same group of students every time. This becomes a safe support group. Give the students a topic to discuss. They have an object to pass around during the discussion–we use heart-shaped beanbags–they feel good, they look like a heart and that reminds us that hearts are gentle and fragile. The Ground Rules are: Everything said in the group is confidential. The students must talk about their feelings, not what someone has else told them. No one talks except the heart holder. We always pass the heart to the left–that way everyone knows they will get a turn. A student can pass if they don’t want to answer a question.

Topics are self esteem and emotional intelligence builders, such as a success I had last week, something I did in relation to money, something I feel proud of, a challenge I handled, something I’m afraid of, what makes me feel sad, I’m confused about….

Sometimes you can break the group into couples. Each student has one minute to talk about a strength he or she has with the partner.

How to ensure students maintain confidentiality:

There must be confidentiality for the kids to feel safe, to know they won’t be teased. Otherwise their trust will be broken. If that happens, and it will in the beginning, at the next circle you talk about how you feel when confidence is violated—use the “When you, I feel” structure. Discuss the fact that now the students have less trust: “My trust level for you is X.” Then talk about what would it take for my trust level to be a 10. This is a learning process that takes place over time. The group must work through this issue.

2. Have your students do guided visualizations. Have them take a fantasy journey where something good happens. When I was teaching this, one student went to a land of no hassles. He got away from home where his mom was on his case and his brother teased him and away from school where the teacher made demands. This idea is like that of teachers taking micro breaks. Do the same thing with your kids. Have them close their eyes, do a guided visualization to a meadow where they meet a friend and play, and then come back. These are very powerful in terms of destressing kids. They can learn to go inside themselves and destress themselves.

Download the Achiever’s Focusing System here (direct link to .pdf download)

3. At the end of every day, have your students write two-three things they learned that day and their successes or achievements. This does two things. One, it helps dispel the idea that teachers aren’t good, and parents appreciate teachers more because they know their child is learning. When the parent asks their child, “What did you learn today?” the child now has something to say. Two, the child feels he or she has learned something that day.

Why this work applies to students with special needs:

Affective education applies to everyone, but it’s so much more valuable for special education teachers. Their students have a lot of things going on: learning challenges and styles plus the overlay of affective issues that come with that. Students with dyslexia may not be able to focus; they feel upset or rejected. Students with disabilities have a layer of two-three feelings more than general education kids. Teachers get a triple pay off when doing affective education with students with disabilities.

What to do when you feel the need to leave the classroom but not the field:

Whenever you are not happy, you’re being told that something is missing. Sometimes that missing element can be created in the context of where you are. A friend of mine, a superintendent, trained all the teachers in his district in self-esteem. From then on, he had zero turnover. No one would even retire—the teachers had too much fun. They figured out that they weren’t teaching what was most important: how students could negotiate their lives. When they changed and taught that along with content, there was less acting out and teachers found joy in teaching again.

Sometimes the problem can’t be handled in the classroom. Then ask yourself, “What would my ideal life look like? What brings me joy?” If you aren’t experiencing joy, you are off purpose. The problem may be that you’re not in the right professional environment, or teaching the right kind of kids, or it may be that that day what you are doing is wrong. Look at your life and ask yourself when you experienced the greatest joy. Chart your course from there, even if it’s different from everything you see.

Of interest: Canfield’s business partner, Mark Victor Hansen, shares advice for young entrepreneurs in his Letter to Readers, outlining the roots of his success and how to get results.

Self education, articles on learning, how to perform at your highest: Right thought, Right speech, Right Action. Setting and attaining goals, taking purposeful action.

1. Find what you’re looking for. How? First, by knowing what it is you’re looking for. Know what you are doing and why; have a purpose to guide your thought and writing process. This seems an obvious first step, yet many people neglect to actually clarify their direction in their writing and in their lives.

2. Make a plan of action (purpose-oriented outline) and stick to it. Once you know what your goal is, explain why your goal is worthy of your and others’ attention. Support your points with evidence and remind the reader (and yourself) of your argument’s relevance by relating each point back to your main goal.

3. Keep the end in mind. Pay attention to the task at hand. Your task is often a means to a certain goal, yes; but the practice of excellence in performing the task itself is also the goal. Conserve your energy for the critical pithy heart of your subject: devote 80 percent of your time on the few tasks/activities/ideas essential to your chosen subject. Always hold a clear intention in your mind of what you aim to accomplish through the effective use of each word/argument/directive/suggestion/activity/etc. Ask yourself, “How does the [achievement of this task, use of this word, consequence of this thought etc.] help me to reach my goal by being the person who _____ ?

Choose a quiet study spot, cover small portions at a time, break often and go outside (exercise gets the blood flowing; blood delivers nutrients to your brain; you function more efficiently; everyone is happy). Also, sleeping after a study session helps to organize and encode the new information into your stimulated brain.

After you’ve studied a chapter or section, reward yourself with some enjoyable activity ( –only in the rare case that reviewing your illegible Physics 101 diagrams doesn’t make your heart sing irrepressible hymns to the heavens on its own). Of course, if you feel in the flow and want to continue investing in yourself (i.e. learning) for the greatest ROI, (gotta love those investment savvy French Kings), then by all means, continue onto the next related chapter. The key is to see the value in doing what you’re doing so that you’re naturally motived to continue, and you derive pleasure from the physical experience of learning physics. Well, something close to pleasure; whatever you can muster.

Mnemonics (memory devices):

Use songs, jingles, acronyms, weird (word) associations — anything to make the material stick. Unusual associations are more easily remembered, but don’t make your connection too far out in left field, or you won’t trigger what you were supposed to remember in the first place.

If you want to see some examples of well-known mnemonic phrases, try this mnemonics page for students in the health sciences, or this reference for Memory Techniques and Mnemonics from Mind Tools^TM.

These techniques are especially useful for cramming a lot of material into your short-term memory, but don’t just memorize; understand — synthesize your existing knowledge and the new. Make new synaptic connections. If you’re not sure whether or not you really understand the material, try the following:

Try explaining/teaching the material to someone else.

Answer “why?” or “for what function or purpose?” (if applicable)

Study in a relaxed atmosphere; your brain can process amazing amounts of information when it is cycling at the optimal frequency (7-12 Hz) for information input.

Tips for Multiple-Choice Tests:

1. Read the question and try to anticipate the answer before looking at the options below.
2. Read each question completely. There may be a more complete answer farther down on the list of options. Remember that you are not necessarily looking for the right answer, but for the answer that best satisfies the question. (That may sound confusing, but it’s not.)
3. Quickly eliminate the obviously wrong answers.
4. Be aware that answers to one question are often contained in another question or section of the test.
5. Options that contain sweeping generalizations (with words such as always, never, must, totally) are more likely to be incorrect.
6. Options that contain carefully qualified statements (with words such as often, perhaps, sometimes, generally, may) tend to be correct.

Tips for Essay Exams:

1. Plan. Read over the whole exam, decide which questions are easiest for you to answer, which carry the most weight, and how much time you will spend on each question.

2. Organize and make your points explicit (but not R-rated, unless your prof wants that sort of thing…). Write an outline of your main points, underline headings, and help the exam-marker understand your argument’s direction. If the prof isn’t sure why you’re mentioning J.S. Mill in your masterpiece on swimsuit design, you’re not going to get the marks.

3. Be relevent, and use jargon specific to the course. This involves walking the fine line between b.s. and the kind of b.s. that baffles brains. Don’t go overboard, but using a few technical phrases where appropriate demonstrates that your brain has been successfully indoctrinated into the hegemonic paradigm of university life. Well done!

Articles:

Is America dumbing down?

Here’s a slacker cure.

Growth Mindset is Key

What Smart Students Know: Maximum…

What Do You Really Want in Life?

One of life’s most difficult processes is discovering what we really want as individuals. Notice that most of us don’t know what we really want because we haven’t taken the time to find out. The problem is we define our personal wants and successes according to the expectations of others. Societal standards have become more important than our own unique needs.

To further complicate matters, wants have a habit of shifting with the winds. Desires are shaped by hidden needs and reshaped by mysterious forces. Too often when we get what we want, we don’t want it anymore.

If there is anything that will keep you from getting what you want, it is not knowing exactly what you want. Reaching the best destination is highly unlikely if you don’t know what the destination is. You must do some soul-searching and really understand yourself before you can determine what your wants and needs are.

Challenging Your Wants (or figuring out what you really want in the first place)

Many of us have lost touch with what life is all about. We have sacrificed the child in us, which knew what turned us on for our own satisfaction and pleasure. Having given up our personal desires and wishes has dulled us so much that we are not stimulated by anything.

Ensure that you aren’t chasing after what your mother or your best friend or Madison Avenue wants you to want. To discover what you really want, you must (well, this is an effective method I suggest) first write down what you think you want. Recording your wants is a way to make them more visible so you can challenge them.

Reveal your perceived wants and assumptions of why you think you must have them, by writing them down on paper or a blackboard or by entering them on a computer. You have to dwell on what you think you want and find the origin of that want. Finding out whether you are the source of your wants, or whether it is something you were told you wanted, is important.

As you become aware of which wants are your own and which you were conditioned to accept, you will be better prepared to pursue your genuine interests. Perhaps you will find all of your wants were there because you were told you wanted them, or you thought you should want them, but really didn’t. Then you have to look harder to discover your true wants. Don’t shy away from this task, or you may waste the rest of your life doing what someone else wants you to do; this is not something which will contribute to a fulfulling and happy life. It’s your life!

Action

Write down all your wants, needs and goals in terms of what you want to do and what you want to be. As you discover what you want, you can select those activities which truly turn you on. Next, look at your list and then live what you think you want. You’ll either quickly have and be the life and person you desire, or you’ll do some more fine-tuning. Welcome to the process of living.

Keep your focus on what you want. Your actions will naturally follow in stride. Your thoughts prepave the way!

Grab some headphones and watch this 10 minute hemi-sync video before undertaking any project. According to the Monroe Institute, alpha waves entrain your brain to the frequency of the earth’s electromagnetic field (Schumann resonance) and allow greater powers of creative visualization and relaxation.

Hemi-Sync

“The patented Hemi-Sync® process has been refined with over 40 years of research and development. Ongoing experimentation, data collection and analysis are conducted at The Monroe Institute’s laboratory facilities to demonstrate the correlations between subjective experiential reports and objective electronic measurements.

Such research is indispensable in revealing the influence of specific Hemi-Sync sound patterns on consciousness. Over the years, these efforts have resulted in the development of scores of individual products for specific applications such as focused attention, stress reduction, meditation, sleep enhancement, and pain control, to name a few.”

“In schools and universities we’re taking in piles and piles of information, but no-one really teaches us the best way to learn, let alone how to develop our ‘mental skills’.” – Sean Adam

Learning to Learn

School systems concentrate on imparting knowledge without giving time and attention to teach the actual skills required to learn the knowledge: “Pay attention! Listen carefully! Remember this! Relax!” On and on with commands that seem to make sense. Yet the question in our subconscious mind is, How?

How do I pay attention, listen, concentrate and remember; much less relax? These are the questions that concern every student. To a manager, the questions are of paramount importance. How can the manager maximise the development of the personnel in their company? By teaching them how to learn new skills, transform old habits and to enjoy the learning process.

It is by making the process efficient, relaxing and yes, even fun, that true transformation and growth is possible.

What are Alpha and Theta States?

Alpha is a relaxed concentrated state of mind typical of a brain wave around 7 cycles/second (7 Hz). This is about 50% slower than the normal waking-thinking state. It allows total concentration and synchronisation of the left and right brains. This is the proper state for reading, listening and other forms of information input.

Theta is an even more restful state of mind typical of a brain wave around 4 cycles/second (4 Hz). This state is the best for memorisation, creativity and problem solving. [alphalearning.com]

Alpha Waves

Alpha waves are electromagnetic oscillations in the frequency range of 8–12 Hz arising from synchronous and coherent (in phase / constructive) electrical activity of thalamic pacemaker cells in the human brain. They are also called Berger’s wave in memory of the founder of EEG. (Brazier, “The Electrical Activity of the Nervous System”, 1970)

Alpha waves are commonly detected by electroencephalography (EEG) or magnetoencephalography (MEG) and predominantly found to originate from the occipital lobe during periods of relaxation, with eyes closed but still awake. Conversely alpha waves are attenuated with open eyes as well as by drowsiness and sleep. They are thought to represent the activity of the visual cortex in an idle state.

An alpha-like normal variant called mu (μ) is sometimes seen over the motor cortex (central scalp) and attenuates with movement, or even with the intention to move. – Source

The Alpha Learning State

At the heart of many methods for self-improvement, meditation and controlled relaxation, lies the Alpha state. Those who use brain technology are familiar with this notion – it indicates the mental state during which the body is relaxed while the mind is still awake. When the brainwaves of a person in this meditative but mentally focused state is measured, the monitor shows the fairly slow-moving Alpha brainwaves. [Maybe that's why students still manage to learn something while in a trance during 3-hour long lectures.....]

The Alpha wave brain state has long been associated with improved powers of concentration, learning skills and stress-resistance. Getting rid of bad habits and acquiring new [good] ones is easier during the Alpha state than it is under normal circumstances. Furthermore, the brain recuperates faster from fatigue and damage as a result of mental stress or the use of chemical substances. The Alpha State also contributes to an increased resistance and ingenuity, according to research on advanced meditators (alphalearning.com).

From “Peak performances through Alpha brainwaves“:

Synchrony

Apart from the Alpha state, synchronization of the brain plays a key-role. The activity in the left and the right hemisphere of the brain are seldom equal. This usually indicates that the two central components of the brain — one being the centre for language and logic, the other the centre for intuition and emotions — are not properly interconnected, when the two halves of the brain are harmonized through the proper type of stimulation, improved synchronicity will be the result, causing the brainwaves in both halves to correspond to each other. The brain will then function as a whole instead of as two separate components. This is an ideal situation leading to peak performances, even in the world of sports.

In addition to the left and right sections, one can also distinguish front and rear sections of the brain. The rear section controls the visual perception (recognition of shapes, dimensions and movement), while the front section deals with the other senses (sound, taste, etc.). these two section can be “out of synch” as well, a situation leading in this case to a disturbed sense of physical balance and physical co-ordination, which can only be corrected through the use of the right kind of optical acoustical electronic stimulation.

Miracle healing

In addition to the ‘mental body building’ for managers, the Brainwave system is also used more and more in hospitals for treating brain damage. To a certain extent, virtually everyone suffers from brain damage, which could be caused by a lack of oxygen or a blow on the head. Especially at an early age this could have severe consequences for learning and reading or keeping the body in balance. With the right stimulation – which is only possible after a careful examination of a brain scan of the individual – it is possible to cure these conditions, sometimes after just one session.

The stories told by those who participated in these training sessions could easily be taken for those told in relation to one of Jomanda’s miracle healings.

There is, however, one exception – Adam’s method has got nothing to do with miracles, it has a solid foundation of scientific research.

More links on Alpha State learning:

What is Learning To Learn?
Effect of Brainwave Training on Cognitive Ability in Pupils with Specific Learning Difficulties – “Skills learned in this way continue to improve over time”
Alpha Learning Research

“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.” – Isaac Asimov

Are you asking yourself, “Should I go to university or college? Is it an investment worthy of my time and money?”

If you need the credential to perform the job you want, then, yeah; kind of hard these days to practice medicine legally without it. Sometimes, in fact for most professional careers, a college or university education is necessary for legal and obvious reasons. A rule of thumb: if you can’t learn it on the street or in a book (i.e. how to perform a successful heart transplant in an ER), then find out where you need to be to develop those skills, and do it!

Know what skills and habits you enjoy developing and how to leverage these to best provide service to others.

For all you social science department majors, ummmm…. Yeah. I got a degree in some lovely double major, then another in computer science, then another in real-world education. I suggest going the shortest route; but then again, you don’t know what works for you until you try it or learn from someone who has been there, done that. And again, if you’re smart, you’ll learn something no matter what you do. A helpful mantra to keep in mind when you’re taking the plunge and trying something excitingly risky to improve your life situation is this: “There’s no failure, only feedback.”

So, listen up, people — especially those who have no clue what to do yet think that school is a decent enough ‘better than doing nothing’ option — rethink your plan. Know that the degree in itself doesn’t guarantee anything. It is an accomplishment and shows that you can finish what you start, which translates into greater peace of mind for the hiring department. It may also make your family proud of you, for some reason, and give you self-esteem. All good things, but know what the degree can and cannot do for you. The degree is a side-effect of your efforts. it is not a thing in itself to be admired. Who you become (other than sleep-deprived) by getting the degree, is what is important.

Obviously, education is important. Processing feedback and using it to adjust your behaviour and strategies for a definite outcome is a smart, necessary skill, a.k.a intelligence. Learning is a life-long process that you activate each moment you evaluate something as being valuable (or not) to your wellbeing. Learn! Pay attention and know what you need to really feel good about yourself. If you’re not learning/expanding your means to live better in your present environment, then go to school or learn from those who are doing what you want to do. Emulate the practices of those you admire. But remember, you’re there for results. Know what you want to get out of and put into whatever you do. What you do, becomes you.

Remember: There are many paths to the castle.. some pass through the woods, and some pass by the lake; some paths are yet to be formed. All will lead (eventually) to where you want to go, so choose the one that best suits you. Choose the path that resonates with your heart. Okay; that’s cheesy, but true.

Links:

The True Value of a College Degree

“Critical thinking is a term used to refer to those kinds of mental activity that are clear, precise, and purposeful. It is typically associated with solving complex real world problems, generating multiple (or creative) solutions to a problem, drawing inferences, synthesizing and integrating information, distinguishing between fact and opinion, or estimating potential outcomes, but it can also refer to the process of evaluating the quality of one’s own thinking.” (Source)

Critical Thinking: Analyzing the Message

Critical thinking is active, reasoned thinking that focuses more on the relative strength of an argument, as opposed to whether an argument is right or wrong (complex issues rarely fit into one box or another or another. Put it all together drawing from many sources rooted in your own experience). Consider the following guide:

“Who Benefits?” Questions:
(Used without permission: Prof. S. Rowley, York University, 2000)

1. Who defines reality here?

2. Whose reality is being represented here?

3. Who/what is absent/disappeared, marginalized or set in opposition?

4. What are the core assumptions?

5. What is Nature and “natural” here?

6. What is human?

7. Who benefits from this telling?

8. At what/whose expense?

9. How/Could this story be told otherwise?

10. How do the absent/disappeared/marginalized define themselves?

11. How does this relate to my own experiences?

12. How/Does this move me to change my thinking/acting/world?

Critical Thinking Links:

What You Can’t Say – Always ask questions
College Students are so Gullible
News Evaluation: Thinking Critically about Media – Great resource. Pearson College
Concept Mapping How-To – Getting ideas on paper
Critical Reading Strategies
Critical Thinking on The Web – a directory of quality online resources. Includes tutorials in argument mapping, a core requirement for advanced critical thinking.