Mawi Asgedom's Blog, page 7

Is the Pendulum Swinging Back?

Accountability has defined the last decade of K-12 education in the U.S., with No Child Left Behind and the ascendance of standardized testing.

Is the pendulum finally swinging back in the direction of holistic student education? Every week, it seems, a new bestselling book or a major article discuss the role of non-cognitive success factors such as character or leadership.

For example, consider:

Race to Nowhere: A movie that has swept the nation by exposing the harms of unbridled test-based competition.
How Children Succeed: A new bestselling book that analyzes non-cognitive success factors, particularly in early childhood.
The Power of Habit: Another bestselling book that demonstrates the vast power of habits.

These are just a few examples. Many of my district partners are now including character and leadership training as both a means and end to student achievement.  My personal opinion is that accountability isn’t going anywhere – but the pendulum will swing to a more balanced place.

What Phase Are You Consuming Right Now?

When we hear the word consumption, we often think of the goods that we purchase, whether they be electronic gadgets, cloth, or food.

Another way to think about consumption, however, is in relation to the “phase of life.” For example, when I wake up in the morning, I “consume” a phase of life I will not always have. It’s a phase where I’m a young dad; my kids are excited to see me in the morning; and I enjoy life with my wonderful wife.

I will only get to consume this phase of life X  times, before another phase starts, where things change both personally and professionally. The high school kids I work with get to “consume” high school for about 1500 days. During that phase, they will “consume” a certain group of people they see often, a sense of discovery common to their age group, and a unique relationship with their parents.

We get bombarded with marketing messages that often confuse us to what we are really consuming. But make no mistake, the phase of life we are consuming matters much more than any gadget we could buy.

Third Graders on Google Docs

I was speaking at the White Bear Lake, MN District Convocation earlier this week and had the good fortune of speaking to their teacher of the year. She told me how her third graders open up their own Google Docs, share them with her, and get going typing. I was pretty impressed since Mawi Learning (like many small businesses) runs everything – email, documents, spreadsheets, accounting – through Google Docs.

10 Tips on College Admissions

Here are 10 tips on college admission. Last year I advised two students – one is at Harvard right now, the other is at MIT. I interviewed students for Harvard for 7 years, and I’ve helped students get into every type of college.

College Admissions is a sales process. You are not applying. Your representative is applying via your essays, test scores, grades, interviews, and any other interaction you have.  Be professional at all times and submit everything ahead of schedule.
 Avoid Generic. Generic letters of recommendation + Generic Essays = Forgettable.
 Your guidance counselor or teacher may have to write 50 other recommendations. If you do not want yours to be generic,  submit an outline of your involvements and any specific stories that your recommender can use. (I had Harvard professors tell me they were happy to write me a letter as long as I wrote it myself.)

Generic: John is a nice, hardworking guy. Julie is so thoughtful and a joy to be around. (These sentences are meaningless platitudes.)
Specific: John showed up at practice 30 minutes early every single day for 4 years and setup the cones. Julie wrote every single team member a card on their birthday. Our team increased in size by 50% after Julie joined and I attribute that to her recruitment drive that she started on her own, where she spent….
So your outline should include things like the cones and the birthday card. Now is not the time to be shy or humble.

We are in the midst of a “teen boom,” meaning that there are more teens in the U.S. right now than there were 15 years ago – so the demographics are slightly against you. Plus a lot more foreign students apply to U.S. schools now. This means you should apply to more schools because you face more competition for the same number of spots. Particularly for elite institutions, you cannot assume admission no matter how strong your application.
If you do test prep on your own, mimic the actual test. If the SAT is three hours, toward the end of your practice you should be taking 3-hour practice tests with no extra breaks. Part of what makes the tests hard is boredom and fatigue. Practice concentrating and being resilient. On the day of the test, no matter how poorly you think you are doing, continue to do your best on every question.
There is no such thing as the perfect college. College is what you make of it and who you are. Do not get too attached to one college.
During the fall of their senior year, many students report that they spend more time on college and scholarship applications than they do on their classwork. So expect to buckle down and focus hard.  (By the way, some of these students are taking 5 Advanced Placement classes and they still spend more time on their college applications.)
Do multiple drafts of your essay and again, avoid generic. An easy formula is the “story sandwich.”  I made up the following essay in about 7 minutes because the “story sandwich” formula is really that good:

Start with a very specific story: Sweat was coming down my back. it was two outs, bottom of the 9th for my conference championship baseball game. My grandpa was in the crowd, having come out the hospital to see me play. The pitch came. The ball popped in the catcher’s mitt. I had struck out. The game was over. I couldn’t believe it. The story you tell should be gripping, interesting, SPECIFIC and one only you could tell.
Expand outward to discuss what the story taught you and reveals about you and your character. Of course, that was not the first time I struck out. I’ve “failed” at the plate over 300 times. And I believe that’s okay. Failure and success are different sides of the same coin – each are equally valuable….in fact, my Grandpa first taught me that lesson when he told me how his first four businesses failed, and he had to summon the courage to try again, in the midst of Great Depression. SHARE LESSONS LEARNED FROM GRANDPA, EXPECT FAILURE AND SUCCESS DURING COLLEGE, BUT WILL ALWAYS STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND GO FOR IT.
Finish the story sandwich by referencing the original story with a twist.  My grandpa hobbled down the stands, taking five times as long as everyone else. He almost tripped once and caught onto my dad’s hand.  I could feel his grit and determination from across the field, and suddenly, the strike out did not seem important. 
When executed well, the story sandwich is interesting, heartwarming, and inspiring – you will stand out and be remembered among the thousands of applicants.

Tell the truth. Do not pad your resume. If you start now, you will go down a slippery slope for graduate school, your work, and so forth.  It does you no good to get accepted into a school that you are not ready to attend – your confidence may be shaken and you may miss many growth opportunities.
Thank everyone who helps you. Your counselor, parents, teachers are all busy and if they help you at all, get them a card and thank them. This is an opportunity to show your professionalism and your class.

Bonus Tip: Unless you are attending an elite institution (and even here I question it), it’s a bad idea to incur massive debt to attend college. You do not want to be 22 owing $125,000 dollars, particularly if you are majoring in English from a liberal arts school.

Mawi Learning Launches New Leadership Class with Florida Virtual School

Who has had profound impact on you? Who has inspired you and made you better? That’s our dream here at Mawi Learning: To catalyze positive, life-altering transformations in our youth.

 I am excited, then, to share with you what might be our most impacting project ever: a new  leadership class we created with Florida Virtual School, an online school with over 150,000 students.

Any high school student in Florida can now take our 2-semester leadership course for free and receive full credit toward high school graduation. You can see the course trailer here:

“I take the course Leadership Skills. It has let me better myself in so many ways. I will use the things I learned probably for the rest of my life to keep making myself  better!”  Amber Aleshire  

Leadership Skills is already live in Florida and will be accessible to students worldwide later this year.

Please help us spread the word in one of 3 ways:

1) Post the course trailer on your social media (Facebook/Twitter/Blog)

2) Tell anyone you know in Florida about this free opportunity for high-impact training.

3) Share the course trailer with anyone who has a passion for youth leadership training.

Just one mile away…?

Most people here in Chicago have been to Lake Michigan. I went yesterday with my family and enjoyed the 63rd Street Beach. As I was swimming with my 2 and 3 year old kids, and my wife, I reflected on all the children who live just a mile away from the lake but have never been to it once.

We consider it a tragedy when someone is unable to travel just one mile from their home to experience something as wonderful as Lake Michigan. How could they be so close and miss out!

But I wonder if the same is true in how our thoughts work. What if we are thinking one way and  just one mile away is another way of thinking that could introduce us to something wondrous. For example:

The father who constantly asks, “How come my son never listens to me?” might be just one mile away from “How can I listen to my son and understand him better?”
 The student who is incensed about her early curfew might be just one mile away from: “How can I earn and build trust?” That new way of thinking might result in no curfew at all, but the student might never go there.
The committed boyfriend who is wondering if his girlfriend is the right person to marry might be just a mile away from a more useful question: “Is this somebody that I want to sacrifice for and serve for the rest of my life.”  With this new thought, couldn’t his whole life change?

How about you? Is it possible that you are just one mile away in some key area of your life? Is it possible that with just one new way of thinking you could create a completely different reality?

5000 Times More Effective?

Dr. Stephen Covey, author of the bestselling book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, passed away yesterday. Dr. Covey was a living legend in the field of personal development and has helped millions of people.

In his teachings, Dr. Covey often focused on the difference between people who take action and those who do not. For example, let’s say that a student is having academic problems.  That student can adapt their study habits; talk to their teacher and ask for help; ask a classmate to tutor them and so on. Or they can do nothing.

Dr. Covey argued that the person who takes action is not one time, or five times, or ten times more effective, but 5,000 times more effective than the person who does nothing. I found 5000 to be a ridiculous number at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I had to agree.  Initiative, the ability to move oneself through action, is the most basic of human skills.

 

How to Work with a Speaker’s Bureau: Interview with Collaborative Agency Group

People often ask me how the speaking industry, and speaking bureaus in particular, work. Here’s an interview with an incredibly talented and successful speaking agency called Collaborative  Agency Group.  I have the highest regard for their President, Andy Cohen.

Andy, can you give people a sense of your expertise in the speaking industry?

Hi Mawi- I’ve been in the lecture business for the better part of the last 15 years as a speaker / lecture agent, VP at a Boston area bureau and now agency owner, here at The Collaborative Agency Group. When I first started in the business being able to fax a contract was all the rage and we still sent out either VHS or audio tapes to demo our speakers. Throughout the years I have booked all sorts of personalities and speakers from astronauts and national hero’s like Neil Armstrong and John Glenn to Educational issues and diversity speakers the likes of Dr Loretta Long (Susan on Sesame Street) and of course you! My clients have ranged from large multi-national corporations, holding events both state side and internationally, to smaller state associations and everything in between. If a client’s needs a speaker we are here to ensure that they get exactly the right person for that engagement. My partners and I have developed an extensive network enabling us to contact and book virtually any speaker or celebrity on the circuit.

What would you say to an aspiring speaker who is just getting started?

Have a passion for something larger than being a motivational speaker. What I mean by that is do not aspire to be a professional speaker, rather be exceptional at what you do and let that be the catalyst for your speaking career. As an agent I am looking for a great story teller, someone that exudes passion whether they are talking with three people in a causal atmosphere or keynoting at a conference in front of 1000 people.

Be easy to work with. Agencies and bureaus are juggling a lot of things at once, from ongoing marketing campaigns, to customer care and logistical support for booked events. Working with a speaker who is well prepared and organized sets an agents mind at ease. We cherish our relationships with our customers (and speakers too) and want to make sure that everyone involved is on the same page. An easily accessible speaker (and staff) is essential.

What is the key thing you look for from a speaker you are considering for your agency?

In a nut shell we look for a combination of ability, enthusiasm and organization. We can recognize a great speaker and story teller but we need the proper materials to market to our clients. So outside of the prerequisite “ability” we need a well produced video, in front of a live audience, a short biography and of course speaking topics. Topics are often overlooked but from an agents perspective that gives us something to grab on to and talk with our clients about. It also demonstrates that the speaker has a good focus and is not trying to be everything to everyone.

Thanks Andy! You can visit Collaborative Speaking Agency by clicking on their logo.

2012 Mental Karate Jigna Winner

Every year, Mental Karate gives the Jigna Award to a Black Belt who has inspired us and his classmates.   Jigna is an Ethiopian word referring to a heroic warrior.

Last year’s Jigna hailed from a small town in Wisconsin – this year, our winner is Cody Cook, all the way from Waimea, Hawaii.  I had the pleasure of visiting Cody’s school and meeting him. Here is his essay:

Cody at Waimea Middle School

On my Mental Karate Journey, I have learned to be a true Jigna. Earning my White, Yellow, Green, Blue and Black belts has made me who I am today. I know that I’m a small person on this gigantic planet. Even though my actions are small, to help the community, and myself all the actions I took made one giant impact on the world. That’s what drove me to press my turbo button and become a true Jigna.

To jumpstart my Mental Karate journey, it started with White Belt. I took the initiative and benefited my classmates as well as myself. First off, I wanted to practice my free throws so I could benefit the upcoming basketball team for my school. So before and after school, I would practice before all my friends came and stole the ball from me. Although, I still got better. But there were some challenges that got the best of me. But that is one of the main points in Mental Karate, pushing through obstacles that get in our way to reach our goals. Another goal for my Whit Belt was isolating myself and doing one hour and 30 minutes of ALEKS. ALEKS is a math-tutoring program that gives kids that extra boost that they need in math. So after all the math problems I did over that period of time, it put me as one of the highest ranking grades in my class. All I needed to do was work hard so I could succeed.

After all that was through, I started my yellow belt. I contributed to various people. I contributed to my entire family by making my family a gourmet Italian dinner. I felt like I could contribute to my family whenever help is needed. Another contribution I made was to my friend Max. Now Max doesn’t get picked a lot to play on a basketball team at recess. It is probably because Max is very short. There is nothing wrong with being short. There are plenty of short basketball players that can do amazing things. Take for example, professional basketball player, Spud Web. He is shorter than me (and I’m almost six feet) and he can dunk. Spud and Max have similar qualities, that being the shortest ones in their league. After I picked Max, he was quick on his feet and made a few shots. Now THAT was surprising.

To help my community, my classmates and myself went down to the Hele-on Bus stop to pick up garbage so the people that wait for the bus could have a cleaner environment to be in. To help with the world contribution, my classmates and myself raised money for Tank the dog. Tank is a puppy that was in Afghanistan being taken care of by a soldier who wanted to bring her back to the U.S. So together my class raised over 400 dollars for Tank by doing a bake sale to help the “Puppy Rescue Mission.” Now, Tank is living in a safe environment in the United States with her soldier. All these goals got larger and made me so proud of myself.

Finishing my Yellow Belt and now striving for my Green Belt, I disciplined myself to shoot free throws every day so I could improve myself even more before basketball starts. After this, my other shots like lay ups and 3-pointers got better as well. Disciplining myself has made me a better basketball player. I’m glad I disciplined myself to do better than I was before.

Once I finished my Green Belt, I began my Blue Belt: Courage.  My first courageous act was to clean my attic of all the rats and spiders. Those rats were huge. There had to be at least six rats and 500 spiders. That took some nerve. For my second goal I wanted to be a more aggressive player to benefit my team on another level. So I asked my coach, “how can I be an aggressive player?” She gave the best (but most criticizing ever) advice ever. She said, “You can’t, you’re too nice.”

That took some courage but I couldn’t ask for better advice. Going through this was that hardest belt ever, but it made me stronger. So I’m proud of it.

On to the Black Belt. The Black Belt was one of the hardest belts. There were ups and downs to it. The upside is knowing to do all the right things, which is pretty easy since I’m a model student. The down side was trying to be more respectful to my sister. She can be a real smart “butt.” But there are times I thought of cunning comebacks but I kept my mouth shut to ensure a better relationship with my sister. This was a real challenge but it was worth the effort and I realized that having an awareness of my positive and negative mindsets is a very valuable thing to have in my life.

Mental Karate was one of the hardest adventures I have ever taken. But it made me a Jigna.

–

Thank you, Cody!

3 Uncommon Rules of Money

If you pay attention to personal finance gurus, you’re familiar with some of the common tips: let your money work for you instead of just working for money; compound interest is among the universes’ most powerful forces;  live below your means. Here are 3 I would add:

1) Everything is cheap until you multiply it by 12. Netflix is cheap at 7.99/month, but when you multiply by twelve, it becomes $96 a year.  Going out for pizza is cheap at $40 for your family, but if you do it once a month, it becomes $480/year. If you make $48,000 a year, that means you spent 1% of your income going out for pizza!  A quick way for anyone to improve their finances is to make a quick scan of their latest credit card statement and cancel at least one recurring expense.

2) If something costs more than $100,000, not everyone should buy it.  Our country got in big trouble when we told everyone that they needed to buy a house, even if it cost $100,000+. Now we are telling our youth that they should buy something else that often costs more than $100,000: college.  I don’t care what it is, if something costs $100,000 not everyone should buy it.

3) Put your savings in Siberia. Siberia is a metaphor for a place that is hard to reach.  When you keep your savings in an account linked to your checking account, you are just a click or ATM visit away from raiding your savings, often on a short-term impulse purchase. Make it hard and annoying to reach your savings. An example of Siberia would be a Fidelity account that is unlinked to your checking account, so you have to wait days to get your money. Two positive shifts will occur in your head: you will force yourself to live within your budget because a trip to Siberia is too painful and annoying; you will increasingly appreciate the value of Siberia as your savings skyrocket.

What do you think? What are some of your favorite personal finance tips?