More Math Education, Less Self Esteem Training

  Finances. If you’ve ever struggled with your tax return, wondered how interest rates could stay so low, or tried to explain why raising taxes on employers is actually not conducive to job creation…. We need solid math education now more than ever. We are no longer an agrarian nation yet we teach math like …

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Nonverbal Influence – Color

New article on the overview of color as a nonverbal influence.

Everyday you are bombarded with millions of images. Some perceived others not consciously perceived. Advertisers want our attention. As we get more and more images, our conscious brains – the part we think we control – ignore even more.

So now we ignore more than we see.

But if a tree falls in a forest and hits a mime, does anyone cry?*

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Stat of the Week – Monkeys and Medals

Lionel Tiger shares the history of monkeys and medal in his latest Op-Ed piece for the Wall Street Journal. He posits that there is a biological need for humans to have games such as the Olympics

Like our primate cousins, competition is in our blood.

Is this just more justification for what my less athletically-inclined friends call ‘testosterone-fueled’ children’s games?

Or is there a verifiable, quantifiable biological need?

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Education Issues: Peer Effects?

The gadflies at Fordham are stirring the pot again. Mike Petrilli takes issue with a recent statement from Kevin Welner, “(Tracking student progress) is a destructive practice that has the undeniable effect of lowering expectations and opportunities for students who have already fallen behind.” As far as Mr. Welner is concerned the debate is ideasclosed….

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Education Issues: Calling Out Bill Gates on Treating Schools Like Corporations

Now they’re eating their own! Mike Smith at Change.org skewers Bill Gates’ plan to provide $200 Million annually to schools willing to take on his ideas for reform. Apparently the idea of basing teacher pay on student test score performance is untenable. What I keep circling back to is this, if we are not to …

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Get to Yes Faster

When you spend your time in Sales person mode, time is even more valuable. You may have  a set amount of time that the potential client is willing to spend with you. Or you have X number of appointments to make before the day is over. And if your business is predominantly face-to-face, you really …

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More about Myelin

Lisa McLellan, a regular reader and commenter, mentioned the movie Lorenzo’s oil after the post on building talent. Since I had no idea what she was talking about, I wiki’ed it. In a short moment I appreciated the profound difference between needing to lug my notebook (which was a yellow pad and pen, not some …

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What is Talent?

Talent is one of those things we talk about all the time, but very rarely define. How often do you refer to someone doing something incredible: Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, Usain Bolt as a Natural Talent? Since that often feels a bit like a cop-out, let’s dive in to the science …

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Leadership in Education: No Child Left Behind

Rewriting the No Child Left Behind Law is in process. If you have children in school this may be important to you. If you are childless, it may seem unimportant. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Whether or not you have children, if you plan to be living in 20 years, how our children …

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