Read-Think-b4-u-Write

Stress is a necessary evil.  While we don't want to walk around feeling stressed all the time, it does help get successful results. We want to be in the middle of that bell curve when stress leads to increased attention and interest, but right before it causes strong anxiety. As you climb toward optimal performance, you have to stay calm because once you lose your cool, well, that can quickly lead to a "complete meltdown."  So what do successful people do to stay cool? Travis Bradberry over at Forbes.com  offers us some insight about how successful people stay calm. Appreciate what you have. "Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn't merely the 'right' thing to do. It also improves your mood, because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%." Remember, 99 percent of the world's population, alive or dead, would love to be a college student in the San Francisco Bay Area. Avoid asking what if? "Calm people kno...

What if someone only got to know who you were based on your internet search history? What do you think he or she would think of you as a person? What kind of an analysis could be performed based on your search history? How about whole states? Estately , a website that claims to be "an addictive easy way to shop for homes" did just that.  "The results ranged from mildly amusing to completely disturbing. No doubt this information will come in handy for anyone trying to decide which state they want to buy a home in, especially for those curious how their potential neighbors spend their time online." Here's a sampling of the first four states in the Union (listed alphabetically): ALABAMA:  FOX News / God / Impeach Obama / Jesus / Jessica Simpson / Obama Is The Antichrist / Polka  / Satan           Analysis:  It’s a fire and brimstone kind of state, but with a soft spot for pretty blondes. ALASKA:   Adult Friend Finder / AR-15 /...

The Marrkkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley held a contest asking students to develop an Ethical Decision making app that incorporated values presented in the "Framework for Ethical Decision Making": "Making good ethical decisions requires a trained sensitivity to ethical issues and a  practiced method for exploring the ethical aspects  of a decision … The more novel and difficult the ethical choice we face, the more we need to rely on discussion and dialogue with others about the dilemma. Only by  careful exploration of the problem,  aided by the insights and different perspectives of others, can we make good ethical choices in such situations. We have found [this] framework for ethical decision making a useful method for exploring ethical dilemmas and  identifying ethical courses of action. " See any problems with this brand of moral decision making? What discussion and dialogue or insights of different perspective...

Rewriting is the essence of writing well—where the game is won or lost. —William Zinsser This is very true - instructors don't expect everything in the first draft and, in fact, expect what Anne Lammott would call a "shitty first draft." Here is some basic advice when it comes to revising drafts: 1) Revision is NOT just about fixing grammar and spelling.  2) Revision is NOT just about moving some words around or finding every synonym Word has to offer.  3) REREAD the prompt.  Are you answering the question being proffered, or have you gone off on some tangent? Get back on track and revise towards the prompt. 4) Check in with your thesis.  Is this the paper you just wrote, or did you discover a new approach towards the topic as you wrote your exploratory draft?  Make necessary adjustments.  5)  When revising the next draft "think big"....what kind of evidence (stats, facts, quotes, examples) do you need to support ALL of your points? ...