By: Audrey Robinson on November 11, 2022
How to Read Numbers: A Guide to Statistics in the News (and Knowing When to Trust Them) was written as a clarion call for journalists and other professionals who regularly use numbers to report and inform the public to be more intentional in their statistical math accuracy. Tom Chivers, a science writer for UnHerd, a…
By: Michael O'Neill on November 5, 2022
Leading Out of Who You Are by Simon P. Walker is a must-read for leaders. As a clergyman himself, Walker’s advice is noticeably grounded in his faith, however, his insights are powerful and valuable for anyone in a leadership role. Dr. Walker brilliantly identifies characteristics of leadership from a variety of perspectives and personality types…
By: Audrey Robinson on November 4, 2022
In his book Leading Out of Who You Are, Simon Walker addresses the undefended leader’s character. The leader’s character sets one apart for genuine and authentic leadership. He describes the undefended leader as one whose character is morally upright due to being birthed by severe trials. Although he doesn’t specifically mention crucibles of fire, his…
By: Michael O'Neill on October 27, 2022
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman was a thought-provoking “read” for me. I chose to listen to the audiobook while building a very long fence over a handful of days. I enjoy this type of project and the weather was beautiful – which is odd for late October in Michigan. Everything was seemingly set…
By: Shonell Dillon on October 26, 2022
Campbell introduced us to ” The Hero’s Journey”. He explained that there is a start or “call to adventure” that starts mans journey. Campbell goes on to explain that there are several other steps that follows this start. In the midst of the journey challenges and temptations come. He explains that proceeding these challenges there…
By: Kristy Newport on October 26, 2022
The morning I left on my trip to Africa, I was in a state of near panic. I had an hour and half from my drop off at the airport curbside until I needed to get to the gate where my plane would be waiting to take me to Newark, New Jersey. I did not…
By: Audrey Robinson on October 22, 2022
I graduated high school as an agnostic, believing God’s existence could not be proved or disproved. During my last year of high school and throughout my years in undergraduate school, I buried myself in mythology. As an English Literature major in undergraduate school, I enjoyed reading the Odyssey, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Dante’s Inferno as…
By: Michael O'Neill on October 22, 2022
Prior to completing Joseph Campbell’s, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, I experienced an epiphany. I felt as if I had read this book many times. I knew I had been here before somehow though it was my first time through this book. Why did it feel so familiar? Was this a spiritual reaction? A…
By: Audrey Robinson on October 14, 2022
When I started reading Failure of Nerve, I was very excited about the basic premise of leadership plaguing our organizations and families. The author, Friedman, argues that leadership is in a rut. Whenever the organization or family is in a state of anxiety, there will always be a nerve failure.[1] According to Friedman, the primary…
By: Michael O'Neill on October 13, 2022
To say “reading A Failure of Nerve by Edwin H. Friedman was inspiring” would be an understatement and borderline insulting to my psyche. I’ve read several books on leadership but none like this. Most self-help books serve as temporary motivation for me and commonly become short-lived with minimal action. I can usually manipulate my way…
By: Michael O'Neill on October 6, 2022
The carpenter in me sees the word “threshold” and immediately a transition strip or door trim of some kind comes to mind. The Kinesiologist in me sees “threshold” as a maximum output or delineation of a new system in the body activating. The student in me sees something completely unique in regard to learning and…
By: Audrey Robinson on October 6, 2022
As I went through the threshold concepts, I kept thinking about the original Star Trek series – going into uncharted territory in space. As an educator, I can see a lot of relevance in the threshold concepts. However, moving ‘stuck’ students beyond the bottleneck in their thinking to a place of discovery is easier said…
By: Audrey Robinson on September 16, 2022
Trevor Noah, the host of the Trevor Noah Comedy Show, wrote in his memoir about his birth in South Africa during Apartheid. His father was a white Swiss German, and his mother was a black South African woman from Soweto. Trevor was born in 1984 and stated he was born a crime because he was…
By: Michael O'Neill on September 15, 2022
A “Long Walk” to Freedom is an understatement for Nelson Mandela. His autobiography escorts the reader on a journey through the extraordinary life of a passionate man who stood for equality and justice like no other. Mandela’s story of a humble Xhosa boy that transforms into an iconic freedom fighter is nothing short of exhilarating.…
By: Tonette Kellett on September 14, 2022
I have to admit, I have had a difficult week. However, I managed to read Nelson Mandela’s book this week and finished Desmond Tutu’s reading tonight. I teach middle school math on the Choctaw Indian Reservation. I’ve been doing this for 21 years. For the first time, yesterday, a seventh grader took her own life.…
By: Audrey Robinson on September 8, 2022
Fascinating. I am sure there has to be research work completed in this space before Erin Meyer. Why? Because it is incredibly pertinent to how global businesses should operate to be effective. The United States has participated in the worldwide realm of multicultural teams for decades. I can recall longing for a two-year assignment on…
By: Kristy Newport on September 8, 2022
My family is among those who have waited for the prequel to The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Rings of Power premiered this past week on Amazon prime and we watched with eagerness and excitement. It was interesting to note how the characters, almost too many to keep track of, imbued good and…
By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on September 3, 2022
I have a half written book, I titled “Fighting to Learn”. I started writing it in high school as I struggled to fit in the system and to learn the way I was expected to. As a student with an IEP (Individual Education Plan) I was given accommodations that were meant to help me be…
By: Audrey Robinson on September 2, 2022
I’ve always prided myself on being a reader. One pastor I was particularly fond of always said, “readers are leaders.” So, I invariably would secretly puff my chest out and think, that is me. Over the years, I’ve taught adults the basics of reading and writing, helping them to succeed in passing high school equivalency…
