When I taught selling, before each class I used to assign a student to come up with news of the day or another topic (never the weather) he or she would use to engage a customer with some small talk before making their sales pitch, if they were on a sales call that day. I was reminded of this device, when I read about a Latin teacher who begins classes by asking if anyone has a silly question to ask the class in Latin.
With a globalization twist, I thought parents and teachers could ask young people, "Who can stump the family/class with a question about world affairs?" They could ask questions, such as, "What percentage of the Russian electorate voted in the March, 2018 presidential election?"
"Where does the Nile River split into the Blue Nile and the White Nile?"
"What is the native language of Kim Jong Un?"
MindWare, which claims to sell "brainy toys for kids of all ages," has another fun way to stimulate interest in the world. The company sells a line of dot-to-dot activity books with an "extreme" number of dots to connect to reveal: 1) world folklore, 2) world architecture, 3) the world's cats, and 4) the world's dogs. Each dot-to-dot puzzle is on heavy paper that can be colored with markets after the picture is completed. For more information, call 1-800-274-6123.
The earlier blog post, "Talk with the Animals," also suggests ways animals prompt a student's interest in the world.
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Sunday, February 11, 2018
February 16: Celebrate Chinese Year of the Dog
Foreign languages express a dog's bark in different ways. In English, dogs go "Arf "or "Woof." In French, barking sounds like "Ouah, Ouah" and in Chinese, "Wang, Wang." "Wang Cai" is a popular name for Chinese dogs, because it means "prosperous wealth."
In the Chinese zodiac, those born in the Years of the Dog (1946, 58, 70, 82, 94, 2006, 18, etc.) are loyal, honest, just and have strong morals. They are great friends, because they give wonderful advice and help others break bad habits. It seems these loyal friends also could use a friend, since their friendly nature belies inner worry, anxiety, stress, and even pessimism that can cause unhealthy eating. They need to relax, maybe with yoga.
I guess those born in Dog Years should wear green, red, and purple which are said to be their lucky colors, and they should look forward to days on their lucky numbers: 3, 4, and 9. In contrast, they should stay away from blue and brown and beware of 1, 7, and 8.
What is a good profession for those born in Dog Years? Their ability to make correct judgments about people suits them for work as referees, lawyers, and interviewers.
No matter in what zodiac year Chinese children are born, they all like to celebrate the New Year, when they receive coins in red envelopes.
In the Chinese zodiac, those born in the Years of the Dog (1946, 58, 70, 82, 94, 2006, 18, etc.) are loyal, honest, just and have strong morals. They are great friends, because they give wonderful advice and help others break bad habits. It seems these loyal friends also could use a friend, since their friendly nature belies inner worry, anxiety, stress, and even pessimism that can cause unhealthy eating. They need to relax, maybe with yoga.
I guess those born in Dog Years should wear green, red, and purple which are said to be their lucky colors, and they should look forward to days on their lucky numbers: 3, 4, and 9. In contrast, they should stay away from blue and brown and beware of 1, 7, and 8.
What is a good profession for those born in Dog Years? Their ability to make correct judgments about people suits them for work as referees, lawyers, and interviewers.
No matter in what zodiac year Chinese children are born, they all like to celebrate the New Year, when they receive coins in red envelopes.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Play, Computer Connections, and Pets Come to the Aid of Sick Kids
Years ago when my four-year-old daughter was in the hospital with an infection, there was a room reserved for play, where needles, pills and painful procedures were banned. She really perked up when she learned to play her first video game.
Nowadays, a new pilot project designed by Gokul Krishman, a Ph.D. candidate at Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University, is bringing a mobile creative space to young patients who can't leave their hospital rooms. Drawing on the idea of the MakerMovement, a cart carries a 3-D printer, tablet computer on a swivel arm, a circuit board that cycles lights through the rainbow, and bins filled with items kids can use to create solutions to problems they face in the hospital. Of course, patients can communicate room to room using the computer.
One patient wanted to stop nurses from just entering her room without knocking, so she fitted a tissue box with wires and switches and posted a sign on her door that read, "Ring My Doorbell." Another stopped nurses from waking sleeping patients by making a Nurse Night Light that only lit up the toilet and trash areas of his room.
Developed in Israel, a new "Sesame" Google Nexus Phone enables those with certain disabilities to mAake telephone calls by using gestures and voice controls.
The later post, "Want to Reach Global Citizens?" reports on the free AFLAC ducks the insurance company gives hospitalized children to help them use emojis to tell the medical staff and visitors how they feel.
Even back in 2002, before there was Skype, Len Forkas worked with a school system's head of technology to equip his sick son's home bedroom and fourth grade classroom with computers and cameras and an internet connection. Microsoft's NetMeeting software enabled the boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia to see his classroom and to talk with friends every morning and after recess. Based on this initial experience, Hopecam (hopecam.org) now works with schools to cut through red tape to provide kids homebound with
cancer with tablet computers, web cameras, and high speed internet connections that enable them to participate in classroom activities and interact with their friends. Sometimes, even if a child only Skypes for a half hour with classmates each week, parents report that this little spot of sunshine makes a big difference.
Julia Havey, a nurse at the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing at Loyola University in Chicago,
observed that brief interactions with pets also could make a big difference for a group of her patients. If they received daily visits from specially trained dogs for five to 15 minutes while they were recovering from total joint-replacement surgery, they required 28% less oral pain medication than those in a group similar in age, gender, ethnicity, length of hospital stay, and the same type of total joint replacement who did not receive animal therapy visits. Havey concluded that therapy animals can have a positive influence on human recovery, because the animal-human connection reduces stress and generates a sense of well-being. Indeed, other research has found that interaction with pets decreases the level of the cortisol stress hormone and increases endorphins, considered the happiness hormone.
The organization, Dogs on Call (dogsoncall.org), provides pet therapy dogs not only to hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospices, but also to libraries, dorms, and schools where students are stressed, especially during final exams.
(For other examples of ways to improve the lives of sick kids, see the blog post, "Robots for Good.")
Nowadays, a new pilot project designed by Gokul Krishman, a Ph.D. candidate at Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University, is bringing a mobile creative space to young patients who can't leave their hospital rooms. Drawing on the idea of the MakerMovement, a cart carries a 3-D printer, tablet computer on a swivel arm, a circuit board that cycles lights through the rainbow, and bins filled with items kids can use to create solutions to problems they face in the hospital. Of course, patients can communicate room to room using the computer.
One patient wanted to stop nurses from just entering her room without knocking, so she fitted a tissue box with wires and switches and posted a sign on her door that read, "Ring My Doorbell." Another stopped nurses from waking sleeping patients by making a Nurse Night Light that only lit up the toilet and trash areas of his room.Developed in Israel, a new "Sesame" Google Nexus Phone enables those with certain disabilities to mAake telephone calls by using gestures and voice controls.
The later post, "Want to Reach Global Citizens?" reports on the free AFLAC ducks the insurance company gives hospitalized children to help them use emojis to tell the medical staff and visitors how they feel.
Even back in 2002, before there was Skype, Len Forkas worked with a school system's head of technology to equip his sick son's home bedroom and fourth grade classroom with computers and cameras and an internet connection. Microsoft's NetMeeting software enabled the boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia to see his classroom and to talk with friends every morning and after recess. Based on this initial experience, Hopecam (hopecam.org) now works with schools to cut through red tape to provide kids homebound with
cancer with tablet computers, web cameras, and high speed internet connections that enable them to participate in classroom activities and interact with their friends. Sometimes, even if a child only Skypes for a half hour with classmates each week, parents report that this little spot of sunshine makes a big difference.
Julia Havey, a nurse at the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing at Loyola University in Chicago,
observed that brief interactions with pets also could make a big difference for a group of her patients. If they received daily visits from specially trained dogs for five to 15 minutes while they were recovering from total joint-replacement surgery, they required 28% less oral pain medication than those in a group similar in age, gender, ethnicity, length of hospital stay, and the same type of total joint replacement who did not receive animal therapy visits. Havey concluded that therapy animals can have a positive influence on human recovery, because the animal-human connection reduces stress and generates a sense of well-being. Indeed, other research has found that interaction with pets decreases the level of the cortisol stress hormone and increases endorphins, considered the happiness hormone.
The organization, Dogs on Call (dogsoncall.org), provides pet therapy dogs not only to hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospices, but also to libraries, dorms, and schools where students are stressed, especially during final exams.
(For other examples of ways to improve the lives of sick kids, see the blog post, "Robots for Good.")
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