December 27th, 2011
A young girl was brought to me because she was failing in math. Her parents were concerned that she wouldn’t get admitted to the competitive middle school to which she was applying. And there was also another potential problem: the interview. The girl, I’ll call her Amy, tended to shut down with strangers.
Sure enough, she wouldn’t talk to me.
OK, I thought, now what? I saw Amy eyeing a set of colored markers Read the rest of this entry »
December 24th, 2011
After the days have gotten shorter and the nights longer we move through the winter solstice. The days begin to lengthen. More and more light comes in, slowly, little by little.
Christmas and Hanukah celebrate light: Jesus, the light of the world, and the Hanukah, the eternal light in the holy temple.
What does this light mean to us? It is the light of our spirit, the sustaining force that gives us each the illumination and power to clear Read the rest of this entry »
July 15th, 2011
Richard Wyne and Nora
At the Apple store in Seattle I got into an interesting conversation with Richard Wyne, from Whistler, B.C., Canada. Richard is the head of a company called Polar Solutions, which is in the business of disaster management and emergency preparedness. They save people’s lives. Talk about stress and performance!. Locating and saving a person trapped in a building, or under an avalanche of snow requires the epitome of being calm, confident and focused. I met Richard with his trusted partner, Nora, a Senior Avalanche Rescue Dog (German Shepard, Border Collie X). I would love to see them in action. If your job requires you to keep stress at an optimal level let us know what it is. I’d love to see Richard and Nora in action (check out their website), and the necessity for them to remain calm,confident and focused. Richard was interested in The Workbook for Test Success, and I look forward to sharing ideas an experiences with him, and with you. Tell us about your stress-related work.
May 20th, 2011
I climbed into a taxi after a hard day at work. The driver gave me a friendly greeting, but something was wrong — for me. The volume of the cab radio was up, way up. I was looking forward to a quiet ride back to the hotel. This was anything but. What should I do?
There was a time when I was afraid to ask a taxi driver to turn the radio down or off (“It’s their cab!”). But I got over that: why be afraid to ask? So I did, and I do, and for the most part taxi drivers comply, though a few give me the “I’d rather not” vibe.
This driver turned the radio off. The cab was quiet. I settled back in the seat and let go of the day’s cares.
The morale: do what you can to achieve the quiet you need.
And if the driver had said “No!”? Well, there’s always another taxi. I look at it as a learning moment. A moment to build confidence. A moment to turn away from the mental chatter that disconnects me from my spirit.
November 20th, 2010
Need help? Confide in someone.
Recently a student came to see me. She said that she was having great difficulty with the one of the subjects in her medical school program. “I feel like everyone else is getting what’s going on and I’m not.” She was embarrassed to tell anyone she was having difficulty and so pretended that she understood what was going on when, in fact, she did not. This
August 1st, 2010
A close friend of mine — a nurse at an inner city high school – told me the following story…
“I was in my office and an 11th grader came in all distraught worked up. This is one tough kid– she’s had many troubles in her life, and has gotten into a lot of trouble too. She’s usually closed down and angry. On the day she came into my office she was very upset — she’d had had a bad fight with a close friend who rejected her. She was angry and ready to strike out. I didn’t know what to do with her. She couldn’t sit still. When I glimpsed The Workbook for Test Success …
June 10th, 2010
The President and perseverance
President Obama delivered the commencement address at Kalamazoo Central High School on June 7. His speech roused the graduates to consider the future they are holding in their hands. Here’s what the President said:
Now, graduates, all these folks around you, I have to say, though, with the cameras and the beaming smiles — they’ve worked hard to give you everything you need to pursue your dreams and fulfill your God-given talent. Unfortunately, you can’t take them with you when you leave here. (Laughter.) No one is going to go
May 29th, 2010
At a book discussion and signing at Borders in Pleasanton, CA, a seasoned teacher perused the book and said, “This book is the missing link. It’s the Rosetta Stone.” This is a big complement coming from a person with years of experience working with under-served students, helping them to succeed on tests.
The teacher, Steve Shramko, works at the Eastside Adult Education Program in San Jose, and has, over the years, recognized the need for material– “a curriculum” — that addresses the test taker, not just the test content. “This is exactly what we need,” Steve said, referring to the book.
May 25th, 2010
All of us, at some time or other, struggle with an inner voice that is critical, negative and even harsh. In its milder forms it sounds like this: “I can’t handle this,” “I’m not good enough,” “I don’t have what it takes.” In its more extreme form it’s judgmental and critical: “I’m stupid,” “I’m a loser,” “I’ll never succeed.”
What do you do when this negativity surfaces? You may try to ignore it or hide it. You don’t want others to know you feel “less than”– after all, everyone else seems to be doing so well. So you’re humiliated, thinking there’s something wrong with you. Stop. Let’s start right here. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re having a confidence crisis. No more. No less.
“Confidence” is made up of two root words: “con” which means “with” and “fidence” which comes from the Latin that means faith, loyalty, fidelity, belief in, trust. When we lack confidence we don’t believe in ourselves.
March 29th, 2010
Today I watched a TV clip of an interview with someone who wrote about reducing test anxiety. If I were a student about to take the SAT or GRE or GMAT or LSAT, I would have found it woefully wanting. It’s not that the information was wrong (the specialist talked about “breathing”) but it was all so “tips” oriented. What do I mean and what’s wrong with “tips”?
