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Posts Tagged ‘Learning’

Trust yourself.  You know more than you think.
    —     Benjamin Spock
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On This Day In:
2021 A Tenacious Cycle
Once Upon A Time…
2020 Kinda Like Posting To A Blog About My Day
Just A Different Point Of View
You Be The Judge
2019 I Think I’m Repeating Myself
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like X-mas!
2018 No Reason To Turn
2017 Talking Knuth
Seeing It Through
2016 Hoping For The Best Come January
2015 Adaptive Security
2014 Wants
2013 Side Effects
2012 Just Trying To Earn A Living
2011 Productive Worry

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A question frequently asked is:  does not the persistent occurrence of Horrible Examples of Systems-function (or Malfunction) prove something about human nature?  If humans were rational, wouldn’t they act otherwise than they do?  We reply:  Systems-functions are not the result of human intransigence.  We take it as given that people are generally doing the very best they know how.  Our point, repeatedly stressed in this text, is that Systems operate according to Laws of Nature, and that Laws of Nature are not suspended to accommodate our human shortcomings.  There is no alternative to learning How Systems Work, unless one is willing to continue to run afoul of those Laws.  Whoever does not study the Laws of Systemantics and learn them that way, is destined to learn them the hard way, by direct encounter in the world of Experience.  That such runnning-afoul continues to occur is simply a reflection of the fact that knowledge of those laws is not yet sufficiently widespread.  The problem is one of Education, and this book represents an effort in that direction.
    ―     John Gall
From his book:  “Systemantics:  The Systems Bible
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On This Day In:
2021 Outside Yet?
Have You Ever Won?
2020 Choice
More Rain Forecast
2019 He Claims It’s Fake News And Spies
2018 Mine, Too
2017 Who’s Turn Is It Now?
2016 Before You Vote In November…
2015 Two Faithful Thoughts
2014 Love Light
Orange October (III) – Giants Advance To National League Championship Series (NLCS)
2013 Nothing Ridiculous
2012 Keeping Faith
2011 Summon Us, Don’t Criticize Us
2010 Obama’s Wars – Book Review
Game Two – Hearbreaking Loss

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Teach your tongue to say I do not know and you will progress.
    —    Talmud
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On This Day In:
2021 What You’ll Find
I Know I’m One
2020 Voting Has Consequences
We Will Get There!
2019 Mutually Exclusive
2018 Basic Rights
2017 Thoughtful Attitudes
Surprise!!
2016 The Bell Tolls
2015 It Is What It Is
2014 What Have You Learned (Gently) Lately?
Orange October (I)
2013 Ignore The Man Behind The Curtain
For A Time
2012 What Are Your True Measurements
2011 What It Is All About
2010 The Magnificent Seven
Giants Fever!!

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Biologically and physiologically, we are not equal.  Some of us learn better at different times of day.  Some learn best visually, some auditorially, some tactilely, by touching.
    —    Dr. Leo F. Buscaglia
[IDIC*  —  But we should ALL be equal before the law.    —    kmab]
[IDIC  —  Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations    —    ST:TOS]
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On This Day In:
2021 At Least Not Until Sunset
Rain On The Leaves
2020 At Least A Little Less
Two For The Post
2019 Promises, Promises
2018 You Mean There IS Something Else?
2017 Be Good
2016 Raise Yourself
2015 A Kids Movie Rip-Off
2014 Ready, Action!
2013 Responding To Challenges
2012 Abnormal, adj.
2011 Large Families
On The Brink

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When there isn’t enough food, the body has to make a decision on how to invest the limited foodstuff available to it.  Survival comes first, growth comes second.  And in this kind of nutritional triage, the body seems obliged to rank learning, last.  It sort of it’s better to be stupid and alive, than smart and dead.
    —    Carl Sagan
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On This Day In:
2021 Life Finds A Way
In The Palm Of My Hand
2020 I’m Not Worried
2019 Forgiving The Chasm
2018 A Sure Sign Of Age
Before The Fall – Cheat
2017 Distant Goal
2016 More Lives
2015 Go Shopping More
2014 Say What?
2013 Accepting Beauty
2012 Transitional Choice To Ride The Wave
2011 Freedom Isn’t Always Perfect
Just That Simple

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To study is a good way to learn;  to hear it is still a better way;  to teach it is the best of all.
    —     Erasmus
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On This Day In:
2022 Relegated To Study Hall
5 – 40hrs
2021 And Initiative Gets You Started
Here’s My Story
2020 #IncometentDonald Says The Economy Will Rebound Quickly
A Family Horror Story
2019 A State With No Business
2018 Reflections
2017 Opposites Attract
2016 Completely Unreasonable
Starting To Be A Reacher
2015 Avengers Assemble II
But If I Had To Perish Twice…
2014 Turning Pages
2013 We Are All Accountable
2012 American Sign Language
2011 Happy Disproof
2010 Book Review – Managing Your Government Career

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If you can develop this ability to see what you look at, to understand its meaning, to readjust your knowledge to this new information, you can continue to learn and to grow as long as you live and you’ll have a wonderful time doing it.
    —     Eleanor Roosevelt
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On This Day In:
2021 Still Trying To Understand
V Memories From Saudi Arabia
2020 Sometimes Just Being There Is Enough
And I Owe It All To You
2019 Or Live For It
2018 Happy Thanksgiving (2018)
2017 Grateful Humility
2016 Obstacles
Election + 2 Weeks
2015 Done What You Could
2014 Impossible To Other Men
2013 Just In Case
2012 Isn’t This Just Pleasant?
2011 No Void In Sight

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One must travel, to learn.  Every day, now, old Scriptural phrases that never possessed any significance for me before, take to themselves a meaning.
    —     Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2021 And Speak To Me
Coming My Way
2020 If You Haven’t Done It Yet: VOTE!!
I Agree
2019 I’m Still Looking
2018 I Choose Love
Courage Can Be Contagious
2017 Scary And Wonderful
2016 #AmnestyDon Hears The Polls
2015 Dare The Improbable
2014 All Together Now!
2013 This Road
2012 Profit
2011 God Is Personal
2010 Playoff Fever Gets the Best of Me…

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Feynman Learning Technique:
1)  Take a piece of paper and write the concept’s name at the top.
2)  Explain the concept using simple language (show examples to demonstrate you know how the concept works)
3)  Identify problem areas in your explanation or examples and then go back to the sources to review the material / concept
4)  Pinpoint any complicated terms and challenge yourself to simplify them.
Several days ago, I posted a quote and made a comment about excellence in teaching.  (Why We Have So Few Personal Favorites )  Basically, my proposition was that it is extremely difficult to evaluate the competence and productivity of a teacher because of the number of variables and an inability to control them to a point sufficient to determine what are the tools we could provide the “most effective” teachers to make them better (or any teachers for that matter).
I never gave much thought about teaching until I joined the Army and they insisted I learn, participate in and practice “Performance Oriented Training” (POTs training) when I attended the NCO Academy in Frankfurt, Germany.  Essentially, POTs stipulates that until the student can perform the task, the training has not been effective.  There were three elements:  1)  the instructor demonstrates the task to be performed / explaining the objective of the task, the reason for the task, and each step necessary to complete the task;  2)  the instructor then walks / talks the student through each step as they (the student) follows along with each step;  and, 3)  the instructor asks the student to perform the task independently.  If the student fails in performance (step 3), the instructor must return to element 2.  Re-cycle through elements 2 and 3 until 3 can be accomplished independently.  At that point, the student can perform the task and the training has been effective.  (Of course long term retention of the knowledge / skill is a different matter.)
This training methodology served me very well during my working life / career as I was frequently called upon to instruct on topics in the military, and then as a civilian:  from credit card fraud prevention, to correspondent banking, to numerous Information Technology topics (basic trouble-shooting, using spreadsheets, using word processing applications, server and network administration, setting up databases, conducting data analysis and creating web pages to display the analysis / data).
Rather late in my career, I “discovered” (i.e. read about) Dr Richard P. Feynman (PhD) and his personal learning methodology.  Post-employment (i.e. in retirement), I’ve now watched bits and pieces of Professor Feynman’s lectures (on YouTube) and I believe his methodology is a civilian / academic equivalent of personal POTs training.  That is:  how we should expect to teach ourselves and verify our own knowledge / competency in a subject.  I shudder to think of the number of lectures / classes / training sessions I’ve attended where the instructor either did not have this level of personal expertise or expect the student to demonstrate understanding at the end of the session.  Which, (again) is why we remember our few “great” teachers over our lifetimes.
Disclaimer:  The list of four steps above are available in several books and on the web and the exact wording is neither mine nor exclusive to any specific source so I have not bothered to cite any “original” source.  I apologize in advance if anyone reading this feels I have used their exact language describing Dr. Feynman’s technique.
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On This Day In:
2021 Learning And Teaching
Two Loves
2020 Does Anyone Else Look Forward To The Last Lawn Mowing ‘Til Spring?
Only For You
2019 10,000 Tries
2018 Keep America Great – Vote This Tuesday
2017 Old Style Ear Candy
2016 Next Tuesday
2015 Wanna Trade?
2014 Brothers And Friends
2013 So Suddenly
2012 At The Center
2011 Live Long And Thinner
Got Health?
2010 SF Giants – 2010 World Series Champions!!!
52 – 54 – 56 – 58
2009 Diet Update
Pictures from Chicago Trip…

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We destroy our children’s songs of existence by giving them inhibitions, teaching them to be cynical, manipulative, and all the rest of it…  You become hardened, but you can find that playfulness again.  We’ve got to find a way to get music and kids together, as well as to teach teachers how to discover their own love of learning.  Then the infectious process begins.
    —     Leonard Bernstein
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On This Day In:
2021 How Learning Infections Begin
Stay Young At Heart
2020 Policies Not People
Just Thinking To Myself
2019 Should I Start With My Religion?
2018 Fear And Hope
Day 33: Good News & Prep
2017 Directions
2016 Handle With Care
2015 Nothing But Pride
2014 Go
2013 Well, Does It?
2012 Near Misses Aren’t Successes
2011 Uncomfortable Feelings
2010 San Francisco (favorites)…
Bullets or Butter?

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Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.  The important thing is to not stop questioning.
    —    Albert Einstein
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On This Day In:
2022 We Are Seeing The Future
2021 The Correct Answer Will Be In The Form Of A Question
Listen Up
2020 Testing To Open The Economy Safely
2019 Or Thought I’d Thought
2018 Go And Dare
2017 And Wealth A Poor Substitute For Ability
2016 Neither Darkness Nor Shadows
2015 It Took Roots
2014 Hard Evidence
2013 Full Participation
2012 Roving (Again)
Ooops, Again
2011 Why Not?

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Variety in practice is most important.  Repeating monotonously over and over again in a treadmill fashion is the very worst kind of practice.  It is both stupid and unnecessary… using your brains and your ingenuity, and your practice will not be a bore to you.
    —    Josef Lhévinne
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On This Day In:
2022 The Grand Essentials
Second 40
2021 Adding Spice
Be Who You Must
2020 Mo, Cilla, Mushy Peas And Rain
No New Wars
2019 An Epitaph For #45 (#LyingDonald)
2018 Before And After
2017 Verbs
2016 Not Too Tidy
2015 Little Understanding
2014 Open Early
2013 Movies And A Lifetime Of Lyrics
This Truth
2012 Cheaper To Hold
2011 Resistance Is Futile
One Great, One Enjoyable, One Terrible…
Unfortunately, No Approval Is Required

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It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.
   —   Dr. Leo F. Buscaglia,
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On This Day In:
2022 Full Of It
2021 I’m Still Learning To Play
What Are You Looking For?
2020 All You Can
2019 No Wall And Not One Dollar
‘Cause It Makes Me Scratch
2018 Mirror, Mirror
2017 Keep On Keeping On
2016 Reflections
2015 Is It Time Yet?
2014 Ask Any Follower
2013 Cornered Or Surrounded?
2012 Escape
2011 Achievement
Not Unreasonable Enough

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The mind unlearns with difficulty what it has long learned.
   —   Lucius Annaeus Seneca
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
   —   Lao-tzu
[We are going to HAVE to be in it for the long haul folks.  So, get settled in…  There’s lots of work ahead.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022 Enduring Success
2021 Dealing With Trumpism, Racism and Fascism In America
Just Wondering
2020 And So Must Good Government
2019 Are You Done Watching?
2018 Spineless Capitulation By The Democrats
Woe Is Me…
2017 Sincerely Yours
2016 Only Good To Say
2015 A Series Of Temporary Conditions
2014 Gaps
2013 Duty
2012 Cost Not Price
Superheroes
2011 The Simple Normalcy Of Everyday Life – “Squirrel!”

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History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
   —   Abba Eban
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On This Day In:
2022 Just That Strange Peace
2021 Have Republicans Figured Out Biden Won Yet?
Sleepin’ On Your Doorstep
2020 Careful About Myth Telling
2019 My Irish Diet
Fighting With Oneself
2018 Feeling Both
2017 Just Start
2016 Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall
2015 Restraint At The Inn
2014 To Not Discovering
2013 I Have Less To Say
2012 Not The Best Prediction I’ve Ever Read

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