Part 2 WHY: This is why I teach "Test Prep" at Broward College

My students bring me remarkable stories and photos.


Here's what one of my students sent me




Absolutely you can use the pictures however you'd like. You're welcome to put them online or show them to your students. 

Ericka Jaramillo

See part 1 of WHY

Visit the FOUNDATION 

that supports this work

Look for the story about the "U.S. Excecutives who visited a Japanese factory"

Dan Heath's words about the process of Change are important to remember...  W. Edwards Deming found out the strength of resistance to new ideas (even in the face of new information) ... I wonder if Deming would have been relieved to know that the key to change is to "put feelings first"...  Heath says that we try to persuade relatives to stop smoking by giving the information about what happens to our lungs.   Instead, we need to show photos to let the person (1) SEE the situation, which helps (2) build the FEELINGS,  (3) to generate the ENERGY in the person...  

I like the story about the Mallet


Get the book.

Look at the bottom of this post to get the name of the person who is described...

Put Feelings First.
Visit YOUTUBE   "Dan Heath feelings first change"

Search "Dan Heath put feelings
first organization youtube"

Go ahead, take a typing test

This is the story that W. Edwards Deming tells
It is worth visiting "Dr. Deming" on Youtube

  cool story...



By the way, what is your speed at ten-finger typing?

Go ahead, click and practice... 

Part 1 WHY: Here's why I teach test prep courses: (1) my students show me remarkable photos and (2) I get to share my favorite books

I get paid $20 an hour to lead people through a test prep course.   I leave my home at 4:40 to beat the traffic and I often stay talking with students to 9:30 and I get home again around 10 pm.  I'm away for 5.5 hours for $60 and I am currently driving a vehicle that consumes a gallon ($4) every 17 miles, ... So my net of $52 is really around $10 per hour  ($52 divided by 5.5 hours).  


That's about $20,000 a year (assuming that I work 40 hours a week and 50 weeks).   When I drive home after a test prep session, I sometimes feel exhausted and I think about Tim Ferriss and the "Four Hour Work Week."   I wonder if I've made a difference in the lives of these students, who  (like me) have just spent a valuable evening away from loved ones ...

Here's why I keep showing up to work as a teacher:   my student F.K. showed me some remarkable photos of his work as a volunteer for dental work for large animals.  Yes, that's a tiger and a coyote on an operating table.

I brought a book to the most recent class to share with my students called SHOW YOUR WORK by Austin Kleon.   I have been advocating to students the importance of SHOWING THEIR WORK in digital portfolios.   I compiled a book about digital portfolios and I hope that the message from Austin Kleon is caught:  Share your work, a little every day.  

I'm currently guiding a young fellow into the world of teaching English as a second language and that includes making a blog with some of the tips that I've given to him.   He made his debut as a teacher of English (he's studied the language for 19 years) on 10 July and here is the result:   32 seconds of video.

This is a plea to my students to make that extra effort to create a blog and then add something to the blog at least once a week.  Go ahead.  

The rest of this blog is a posting of Austin Kleon's book SHOW YOUR WORK.  These pages are from the AMAZON.com display of an excerpt from his book.  If you click on the book and flip through the excerpts, you will see what I've posted below.   I'm exposing what is already available online.

============================== 
So, what is next?  TinyUrl.com/ShowYourWork
TinyUrl.com/ShowYourWork1




Here's one of my favorite pieces that I put out on the 'net.  This video confirms what Kleon advocates:  if you share what you do (a little each day), someone might notice and benefit from your work.