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MAY 2019
THEDIFFERENCEA TEACHERCANMAKE Throughout my childhood, there were a few teachers who changed the trajectory of my life. That’s a pretty big thing to say, but it’s true. May 7 is National Teacher Day, and because I work with a lot of educators, I want to share a story about how one teacher completely changed the way I think about learning. Growing up, I attended a private Christian school until halfway through the fifth grade. My parents felt the school wasn’t keeping up on the academic side of things. My older sister, who also attended the school, qualified for more advanced math classes. In order to continue, she needed to attend a public school to take classes the private school didn’t offer. So the two of us were enrolled in a new school. The switch was a shocking one. I had done pretty well academically at the private school, but the public school students were further ahead in their curriculum, so I started to lag behind. In fact, through the rest of fifth grade and into sixth grade, I struggled. I ended up getting my first C, when my grades up until this point had been all A’s. I was devastated. Then, in seventh grade, things changed. It all came down to my math teacher, Mr. Miller. He was a remarkably energetic person and took time to connect with his students. He wasn’t there to absentmindedly teach but to help students really understand. Mr. Miller kept a list next to his desk called his “Magnificent Seven.” It was a list of the top performers of the class. While that may sound a little odd by today’s standards, it was his approach to using this list that made all the difference and ultimately changed the way I feel about math. Mr. Miller told us this list was not always going to be the same seven names over and over. He wanted to see everyone make the list at least once, and he was going to actively help each student meet that goal. “I will work with you to get on this list,” he promised. At first, I wasn’t convinced. But Mr. Miller told me there was no reason I couldn’t be good at math. It wasn’t long after he said that and worked with me that I made it onto that list. Every time someone new made the list, he
made a big deal about it and let that student know just how good of a job they were doing. In short, he made us feel excited about learning.
This was one of the first times a teacher encouraged me and was there for me. For the rest of the school year, I worked hard to stay on that list — and stay near the top. At one point, it was between me another kid named Jason for the #1 spot. Not only did my attitude toward math change, but Mr. Miller’s teaching strategy completely changed my trajectory going forward. I never got a C again, and I went on to excel in just about every math class afterward (except for one geometry class, in which I got a B). This goes to show just how much impact a teacher can have. It all came down to Mr. Miller believing in his students and being there to help when we really needed it, even when we wouldn’t admit we were struggling. Every teacher has a chance to make a difference. As clichéd as that may sound, it’s absolutely true. When a teacher puts in the extra effort, it can be life changing for a student. Any educator can change the academic trajectory of their student by simply being there for them, encouraging them, and recognizing their accomplishments, just as Mr. Miller recognized mine.
–Ja y Willi s
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IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR 1 HOUR A WEEK ORGANIZEDTHOUGHT
Day 3: Listen Find a podcast that delivers high-quality, meaty content to listeners — This American Life is a great place to start. Devote 15 minutes to listening. Ideally, these 15 minutes should be quiet and free of distraction. Actively listen to what the hosts and guests have to say. The key is to remain attentive. Day 4: Write Email is a derided but necessary form of communication. Clutter tends to fill both our inboxes and the messages themselves. Your goal is to become clear and concise. In five minutes, find a wordy email someone sent to you. Rewrite it. Make it to the point and something you would actually want to read. Day 5: Review Have a trusted friend or coworker read over one of your emails or listen to one of your presentations. Ask for honest, constructive criticism. How can the message be improved? The delivery? Listen attentively to the feedback and put it into practice.
We are surrounded by tools designed to make us better communicators. Unfortunately, many of us don’t take advantage of them. So we miss out on improving our communication, whether it’s with our significant other, our children, our neighbors, or our colleagues. Here’s the truth: The secret to being a better communicator is as close as a click away. All you need is one hour every week. Over the course of five days, do these five things, and you will be surprised by the results. Day 1: Watch Start your week with a presentation, but not any ordinary, boring one. Give yourself 20 minutes to watch a TED Talk on YouTube, for instance. Pick one and go. Observe how the presentation plays out. Watch how the speaker delivers their message, engages the audience, and takes a potentially dry topic and turns it into something you actually want to watch. Day 2: Read You can spend any given day sifting through repetitive emails and uninspired content. Instead, take 10 minutes to read content created by a famous reporter or popular blogger. Your goal is to find someone with a penchant for writing who has a clear understanding of what they want to communicate to their readers. Then, get inside their head. How do they structure paragraphs and sentences? What words do they choose? How do they get their point across? What makes their writting effective or ineffective?
All you need is an hour a week to start communicating more clearly and effectively.
‘HOWCAN I HELP YOU?’ HOW TO INCORPORATE CHATBOTS INTO YOUR BUSINESS
People have long been curious about what robots could do for humans. Historians have even traced robotic inventions all the way back to 400 B.C.! Since then, the field of robotics has come a long way and brought modern society inventions that change how people live, learn, and even run their businesses. One such robotic innovation that has increased in popularity in recent years is the chatbot. According to Entrepreneur.com, Facebook found that over 2 billion conversations were held between customers and
ever. According to Newlands, you can even create your own bot on Facebook Messenger without having to write any code.
To dip your toes into the chatbot world, start by establishing a part-time bot during a busy season, or use one to reduce the number of common and simple questions your employees have to answer. This delegation of inquiries will allow your employees to focus on more pressing tasks. Additionally, your chatbots can bridge language barriers and assist clients who struggle with verbal communication. While chatbot technology has various benefits, it also has limititations. Before you dive right in, make sure you’re aware of how much your chatbot can do for your customer before a human customer service representative has to step in. Many inquiries require human interaction, so monitor your chatbot’s responses, program your chatbot to direct customers to you or your team, and let customers know your bots are only designed for certain tasks. Your bot has to be easy to understand, or no one will use it. A lot has changed since 400 B.C. Technology is advancing fast, and when businesses don’t keep up with the times, they fail. If you use it effectively, chatbot customer service is a phenomenon that will surely keep your business a bot above the rest.
the 100,000 chatbots on its messenger platform in 2017. But though chatbots have only become mainstream in the last few years, they’ve been around for decades.
Chatbots go all the way back to 1966, when Joseph Weizenbaum’s ELIZA terrified and mystified the masses. ELIZA was the first chatbot to master short, human-like conversations, and various improvements were made in the following decades, including ALICE in 1995. ALICE’s capabilities were so profound that she paved the way for today’s widely used artificial intelligence inventions. Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, IBM’s Watson, and Google Home are all forms of AI chatbots that utilize human-like linguistics, but according to Murray Newlands, CEO of chatbot company Chatty People, bots can also take on scripted forms. These bots are ideal for answering common, simple questions from customers. Today, implementing a chatbot for your business is more convenient than
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KIDSANDCELLPHONES ENCOURAGING POSITIVE COMMUNICATION
These days, it’s rare to see a kid without a cellphone. More parents buy their kids these devices, which means that, just like their parents, kids are more connected than ever. It’s a normal part of life in this day and age, and mobile devices are great tools for keeping tabs on your kids. You can stay in touch and monitor your kids’ activity when they are out of the house, but the devices don’t come without risk. Our phones can do many things, and for kids, this can be overwhelming. Kids can receive calls, texts, emails, and photos from anyone who has their contact information, and not all of these messages are well intentioned. Many parents and educators believe the devices are making cyberbullying easier than ever, and with upward of 80 percent of kids using a cellphone daily, they may be right. As of 2013, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that nearly 72 percent of high school students reported being cyberbullied at least once during the school year. Almost 20 percent of kids said they were cyberbullied at least once a month. Social media is often the primary setting for bullying, but bullying via text messaging is common, too. Two of the best ways to combat cyberbullying are communication and education. When you give your child a cellphone, it’s always important to set ground rules for all phone usage. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and other phone companies offer tools for parents to monitor usage, but nothing can match open and honest communication.
Discuss online safety, from social media to image-sharing. Remind kids that once a photo or personal information appears on the internet, it can be very difficult to remove. In some cases, it can be downright impossible, especially if the photo is seen and copied by another person. Depending on what is shared, there can be little to no recourse for the person who initially shared the photo. Make sure to discuss both etiquette and boundaries. Let kids know when and where not to use phones — in class, at the theater, and especially while driving. Explain why they should be extremely cautious about unknown calls, texts, or other messages. And if they do receive anonymous, questionable, or troubling messages, they need to report it to a trusted adult as soon as possible. Encourage a safe communication environment based around trust, not judgment.
Recipe inspired by SeriousEats.com CLASSICFRENCHOMELET
SUDOKU
INGREDIENTS
• •
3 large eggs
•
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground white or black pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. In medium bowl, beat eggs with disposable plastic fork until last traces of white are just mixed in. Season with salt and pepper. 2. In an 8-inch nonstick skillet, melt butter, swirling over medium heat until foamy but not browned. Add eggs, stirring rapidly with fork, tips of tines up, while moving skillet to agitate eggs. Ensure all curds are broken up, scraping from bottom of skillet as they form. Stop stirring as soon as eggs are very softly scrambled and creamy (but still loose enough to come together into a single mass), 1–2 minutes. 3. Using fork, gently spread egg in an even layer around skillet and scrape down any wispy bits around the edges. The top surface should be loose and creamy, but if it looks too liquid and raw, cook undisturbed for another few seconds. If still liquid, swirl skillet to bring raw egg to the edge where it will set more quickly. 4. Remove from heat. Tilt skillet up by handle. Using fork, gently roll omelet down over itself until nearly folded in half. Using fork, push omelet to edge of skillet so that lower edge of egg just begins to overhang. Use fork to fold overhanging edge of egg back over, closing omelet. 5. Turn omelet out onto plate. It should be either almond- or cigar-shaped, seam on bottom.
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INSIDE 1 2
The Difference a Teacher Can Make
5 Steps to Become a Better Communicator
Using Chatbots in Small Business
Encouraging Positive Communication Among Kids
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Classic French Omelet
How Being Open to Growth Leads to Success
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THE POWEROFMINDSET HOW BEING OPEN TO GROWTH LEADS TO SUCCESS
For decades, Dr. Carol S. Dweck studied the phenomena of success. How is it that some people are able to grow their business, stay fit, or achieve their personal goals while others in similar situations stall out? Mindset is Dr. Dweck’s answer to this question. Subtitled The New Psychology of Success, this book chronicles the Stanford psychologist’s findings, which suggest an inseparable link between belief and achievement. According to Dr. Dweck, people tend to think about the challenges in front of them in one of two ways. They either have a “fixed” mindset — believing that their talents and abilities are static, intrinsic properties of who they are — or a “growth” mindset — believing they can improve every aspect of themselves with practice and perseverance. Those who approach life’s hurdles as an opportunity for growth are the ones who find long term success. If you’ve ever said “I’m just not good at math” or “I’m not a natural leader,” you’ve fallen into the fixed mindset trap. If you believe there’s nothing you can do to change your circumstances, you’ll never strive to improve them.
The same is true of positive fixed opinions of yourself. Dr. Dweck points out that those who believe themselves to be “a great boss” or “an amazing athlete” are also doing themselves a disservice. Once you think your skills are tied to who you are as a person, you’ll avoid testing them for fear they might be found wanting. This leads your talents to atrophy as you seek detours instead of facing challenges head on. Dr. Dweck argues that, instead of falling victim to the pessimism and self-delusion that defines fixed mindset thinking, we need to recognize that the path to success lies in open-minded perseverance. “A person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable),” she says. “It’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training.” Not only does Mindset drive this point home with well- documented experiments and studies, but it also provides a workshop to help people break free of their fixed mindset and find success.
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