Why Corporate Motivational Speakers are a Worthy Investment
Why Corporate Motivational Speakers are a Worthy Investment
In current times, corporations are faced with a myriad of challenges that they must be ready to meet in order to grow and change with the times. Strong and confident business owners meet challenges head on, and insist on finding viable solutions for them.
Keeping employees productive in trying economic times is not an easy task. Negative influences seem to come from everywhere, and it is imperative that a corporation finds a way to prevent the worries and concerns of its employees from affecting production.
The single, most effective way of helping a corporation stay strong in tough times, is to keep employees excited and motivated. Most businesses choose to achieve this by hiring a corporate motivational speaker. Once considered a luxury, the use of corporate motivational speakers has become something many presidents, and CEOs have come to rely on and deem a necessity.
The president or CEO that dedicates his or herself to helping employees fulfill their individual goals, ultimately creates success for the overall corporation. Investing in a motivational speaker is revenue well spent, as the benefits the corporation receives in return, can be quite numerous.
Corporate motivational speakers create change, by heavily influencing their listeners’ thought patterns and emotions in a positive way. For instance, they can endorse new practices or techniques that being put into effect by the corporation. It’s amazing how quickly an entire department can go from being woeful to excited about a change, solely from the influence of a corporate motivational speaker. The employees then tend to embrace the change, rather than fear it, thus making the transition easier.
Corporate motivational speakers are also a positive inspiration for employees working against the backdrop of a shaky economy. Most motivational speakers have faced seemingly insurmountable odds at some point in their life, but overcame them to achieve success. Often, this is the reason they became this type of speaker to begin with. When this attitude is conveyed to employees, they begin to see their own problems as challenges they can successfully meet, at which point production sky-rockets.
Among the many other reasons a motivational speaker is a sound investment for any corporation, is the fact that he or she will generally be hired for only a few hours. Revenue spent to cover the fee of just one talented individual, for a short amount of time, is money well invested, as this one person has the potential to help hundreds of employees work more efficiently.
Most corporations that make this type of investment look back, are pleased with their decision, and find themselves reaping the benefits for a long time to come.
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Starting A Small Business Of Your Own
Starting A Small Business Of Your Own
In starting a small business, there are several steps to take in order to make sure you do things right. In fact, there are several steps to consider before deciding on whether you can start a small business of your own. It takes time and information before you can tell yourself that you are ready to begin building your own business.
You need to be patient and not hurry things up because starting up a business, be it big or small, is an important milestone in your life. Starting up a small business can either be the key to your successful future or the start of your world of debt. The choice is yours. If you want a successful business, then you must follow these steps in getting started.
Begin to set up your small business with these important steps. The first thing you have to do when you decide to start a small business is to consult a number of professionals for advice. You should take the view that you are going to need help and advice, especially if it’s your first time to start up a small business. Many first-time failures are due to a failure to seek advice from those that have already done what you are trying to do now.
You will need to consult with professionals who are experts in their line of work, and that can help you with your start-up. Included among those that would be of particular benefit to you are an accountant, banker, and usually an attorney. Often, entrepreneurs hire a marketing consultant to check out the feasibility of the market they are aiming for.
It might cost you to hire these professionals during the start up but imagine what you would do without them. They are the ones with the knowledge on how you can take the initial steps involved in starting up a business.
Once you have found the right professionals for advice, the next step is to create a business plan. It is not true that only big companies need business plans. Small businesses need them too. The old saying might sound a bit trite now, but it’s true nevertheless: “Plan to succeed, don’t plan to fail”. There are other versions of that, but basically what it means is that success needs planning, and if you fail to plan then you will also fail in your small venture.
Once you have your business plan drawn up, you should now get down to organizing the business. What are the next steps you have to take for your business to get up and running? You’ll need a business name and select a form of organization and you will also need an advertizing strategy.
Depending on the size of your business, you will need funds to start setting it up. The bigger the business the more funding you will need, which is why many budding entrepreneurs decide to start small to test the water and then expand if they are successful. That is one way to check up on the market before you invest too much money, and might allow you to start again if your first business fails to work.
The funds for a small business can often be obtained from a bank with a small business funding scheme, and there are occasionally government schemes available to help people start up their first business. It’s best if you also have some of your own money saved up or a rich backer.
Even before you start trading you should get your accountancy system organized, and make a note of all the expenses involved in setting up. Even travel costs before you have started are valid expenses. You can name your family as employees and pay them a wage, or at least their expenses. Your car should go down as a business expense, and all your stationery, telephone and postal costs.
You have to set up a timetable as part of your small business plan. When do you want to start trading? What legal documentation must you have before you start? Do you have to register your business or register your trade name – in fact has your trade name been taken by another business? Do you need to hire employees? If so, how many and when are you going to hire? Do you need to join a group of entrepreneurs to get noticed? These are questions you will need answered before you can start up.
Don’t forget the insurance. What insurance do you need? Do you need to know about intellectual property rights? Will you need patents, trademarks, or copyrights? You might find it advisable to hire a solicitor for most or all of these tasks. It would certainly be lot easier, or perhaps your accountant could do it for you if you have one.
If you are new to small business, then you are strongly advised to get professional advice on many of these matters, and the cost will more than pay for itself in what you could save over trying to do it all yourself. Once you have done all this, then you are ready to begin you small business, and hopefully you will be successful.
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Life Assurance Contracts (New Title S.)
Life Assurance Contracts (New Title S.)
Life assurance continues to be a topic of great practical significance, given the popularity of endowment mortgages and pensions, which contain an element of insurance, as well as the need for families to protect against the loss of their breadwinners. Since the first edition of this book in 1995 much has changed, with a fundamentally new regulatory structure under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, changes in divorce and bankruptcy law, as well as continued developments in areas su
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Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
More than any other textbook, Moore and Parker’s Critical Thinking has defined the structure and content of the critical thinking course at colleges and universities across the country–and has done so with a witty writing style that students enjoy. Current examples relevant to today’s students bring the concepts of critical thinking to life in vivid detail. This ninth edition offers an abundance of new exercises and examples, as well as a renewed focus on the importance of developing critical
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Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling Reviews
Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling
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There’s a voice in the universe calling each of us to remember our purpose—our reason for being here now, in this world of impermanence. The voice whispers, shouts, and sings to us that this experience of being in form, in space and time, knowing life and death, has meaning. The voice is that of inspiration, which is within each and every one of us. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer explains how we’ve chosen to enter this world of particles and form. From our place of origin,
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Extra Mile America: Stories of Inspiration, Possibility and Purpose | US $4.87 End Date: Thursday Feb-23-2012 2:40:25 PST Buy It Now for only: US $4.87 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
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Other People’s Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See
Other People’s Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See
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Fevered notes scribbled on napkins after first dates. Titillating text messages. It’s-not-you-it’s-me relationship-enders. In Other People’s Love Letters, Bill Shapiro has searched America’s attics, closets, and cigar boxes and found actual letters–unflinchingly honest missives full of lust, provocation, guilt, and vulnerability–written only for a lover’s eyes. Modern love, of course, is not all bliss, and in these pages you’ll find the full range of a relationship, with its whispere
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Seven Irrefutable Facts Associated With Business Success
Seven Irrefutable Facts Associated With Business Success
Ever wondered why the United States is undoubtedly one of the world’s most successful business nations? Do you know why few individuals attain mega success, even in not-auspicious conditions while others realize a tip of their deserved iceberg? The answer is simple: it is in the demonstrated and not-considered Seven Irrefutable Facts Associated With Business Success. What are they?
The following elucidates in succinct terms the seven irrefutable facts associated with business success.
1) Defining the orientation of the business: The most fundamentally important factor which is inevitable to business success; definition rather than ambiguity. Precisely, establishing business goals; vision and mission statements, aims and objectives are sine qua non, the catalyst starters of business success.
2) Knowledge Acquisition: In consonance with set business goals, reading related and up-to-date business materials; journals, articles, books and other forms of business-disseminated messages, information-consciousness, development of relational skills, relating with individuals in the same business arena; learning lessons from their experiences, their ‘Dos’ and ‘Do-nots’ approach to the business, strengths and weaknesses, seeking for inspiration that breathe intuition and ingenuity are facts associated with business success.
3) Maintaining a positive attitude: The decision to maintain a positive mindset is tantamount to consistency, focus, patience and persistence needed for the continued thriving of the defined business. Owing to certain information which are generally unfavourable, the need to keep a positive psyche becomes essential in order to achieve anticipated business success.
4) Taking calculated risks: Considering the level of knowledge acquired and set goals, success in business is unequivocally made possible by the risks taken. In business dynamics, the statement; ‘leap before you look’ is a motto of successful business men and women. However, a full grasp of acquired knowledge empowers successful business giants to take computed risks in the pursuit of progress in the businesses they engage themselves. No business enterprise have attained eventual mega success and continually thrived with paying the price, taking risks.
5) Minimizing losses and Maximizing profits: A follow-up to the embarked-upon calculated risks, understanding the core of business success lies in the ability to minimize losses and maximize profits. Granted, the essence of any successful business is to realize profit. At times, loss sets in. However, prioritizing maximized profits and limiting to the barest minimum losses are also essential to business success.
6) Taking responsibility for business actions: In the making of an entrepreneur or investor, a chief executive officer or a managing director, certain outcomes of business actions and decisions; low or high turn-over rates, profits or losses, surplus or deficit account reconciliations should be the responsibility of the would-be successful business man or woman, rather than taking excuses for lapses, blaming others for negative imbalances or being too self-concerned (taking credits for all positive business outcomes instead of acknowledging the efforts of others). Instead, through an organized win-win strategy in terms of demonstrating a relational carry-along disposition, business success can be fostered by accepting responsibilities as the business’ ‘watch dog’ for any good or bad outcome and subsequently improving on it or providing its corrections via the co-operation of others.
7) Being investment-minded: This is a mindset, resident in the lives of individuals who want to experience mega business success; setting the pace for others to follow, trailblazers in the endeavours they engage themselves and role models for prospective business men and women. Of all kinds of existing business attachments (employee, self-employed, business owner and investor attachments), the investor attachment is the one whose success in relation to its advantages edge others; pays low taxes, very likely to escape the government debt bracket, gets richer and makes money do the working, permitting privacy to the concerned attaché.
Andrew Carnegie, a one-time U.S president once said: ‘America’s business is business’. Like the American dream, ‘you can be anything that you want to be’, as a (prospective) business man or woman, you can be the business success you are by considering and demonstrating these irrefutable facts.
Ihekuna Chimezie Benedict
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Louise Hay – Not Just A Spiritual Hero
Louise Hay – Not Just A Spiritual Hero
Smart, savvy women jazz me. I include pioneering women like Mary Baker Eddy, Myrtle Fillmore, Johnnie Colemon and H. Emilie Cady in this category. And, then there are a select few women whose accomplishments compel me to take action. I count Louise Hay among the elite group. These women operate like forces of nature. Nothing can stop them.
Louise Hay – Science of Mind’s 2009 Spiritual Hero of the Year
Beyond Ms. Hay’s personal accomplishments, which include being the 6th all-time best-selling female author ever, healing herself of cervical cancer without medical intervention, working with AIDS patients at a time when they were considered untouchable and much, much more, Louise has almost singlehandedly moved New Thought from the fringe into the mainstream.
Doesn’t that just turn you on? I’d get to work now but I have to finish this article first.
Now, imagine my excitement when I found not one, but two in-depth articles written about Ms. Hay. I found the first article, entitled “The Queen of the New Age” by Mark Oppenheimer, through an archival search on the New York Times website. And, the second article came to me courtesy of a dear Facebook friend. This article, entitled “The Ambassador of New Thought” by Claudia Abbott, appears in the January 2010 issue of “Science of Mind.”
As expected, each interviewer approaches Ms. Hay from a different point of view. Abbott’s story in “Science of Mind” proclaims Ms. Hay the “Spiritual Hero of the Year.” But, while it touches on Ms. Hay’s tremendous accomplishments, it fails to give the full weight of what Hay House means for New Thought now and to future generations. Quite frankly, I was surprised to find that Abbott did not offer a proper context in which to consider Hay House and its achievements.
New Thought has always had a literary tradition. Our principles have chiefly been communicated through the written word. It’s why the inspirational quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and others touch us so deeply. Check the Facebook fan page of any person talking about the Law of Attraction (which is what mainstream media has reduced New Thought to) and you’ll find it chock full of inspirational quotations from these thinkers and others.
Consider this: in an industry run amok with consolidation, where the big eat the little, Hay House has not only survived, but it has also thrived. According to Oppenheimer’s profile, Hay House has the cash reserves to pay advances that rival those of larger publishing houses (upwards of ,000,000). Moreover, they’ve pioneered a model wherein their writers’ fortunes do not turn on book sales or critical reviews alone. Instead, the writers earn royalties on their books as well as ancillary products inspired by their books, i.e. greeting cards, inspirational keepsakes, etc. No other publishing house can make this claim. And, Hay House has consistently fended off larger corporations that have sniffed around, attempting to purchase them.
Ms. Hay (and her business partner Reid Tracy) has built a company that can survive long after she’s gone. And, this is significant because it is the first time that a sustainable business like Hay House has been produced from within the New Thought community. We have lots of wonderful New Thought books. And, we’ve had strong businessmen like Robert Collier (“The Secret of the Ages”) and Napoleon Hill (“Think and Grow Rich”) and many more. But, those men came from the business world and latched on to New Thought principles. They made use of New Thought teachings, but they laid no business apprenticeship pathways for others to follow.
Conversely, Ms. Hay has built a media empire that creates pathways to wealth for other New Thought adherents. That’s major!
I expected Oppenheimer to miss the true value of Hay House and he doesn’t disappoint. But, I expected a publication like “Science of Mind” to zero in on an important perspective like this. Here is a woman who has taken New Thought out of relative obscurity and made it mainstream. Moreover, she didn’t just build a company that benefits herself; she has instead created a lasting platform from which New Thought writers can be launched for years to come.
Before there was a Rhonda Byrne, there was a Louise Hay tearing down walls and barriers so that a video like “The Secret” could have a platform.
The mainstream media is going to color our stories in a shade of weird. Consider the backlash in the review column on www.amazon.com for “The Secret.” Few people want to accept FULL responsibility for their experience – the good and the bad. Even though what we teach – that you can have the life you want, just choose it – has the ring of truth for them, it always comes back to the question of why bad things happen to good people. “So, are you saying that the people who died in the 9/11 attacks brought that on themselves?” they will ask.
As the next generation of New Thought thinkers, we cannot look at ourselves through the lens of the mainstream media. Just as we choose the lives we lead, we must also choose the lens through which we see ourselves. Louise Hay has done something that is utterly remarkable and should be recognized appropriately for it. She is way more than just a spiritual hero. Let us give Hay House and Louise Hay her full and proper due.
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How to Hold Motivational Meetings
How to Hold Motivational Meetings
How many times have you phoned someone to be told, “They’re in a meeting!?”
At least 60 per cent of a manager’s time is spent in meetings. Research in one large organisation discovered that the figure could be as high as 90 per cent. And another survey found that many managers consider meetings they attend, to be a waste of time. In fact, some managers say that – “meetings take ‘minutes’ and last for hours.”
If you are a manager or team leader, then you will have to hold meetings; here are 4 steps to make them exceptionally Motivational:
1. Don’t hold a meeting unless you really have to. Be really, really sure that the meeting is needed and that it has a clear objective. By the end of the meeting, however long it takes, the shorter the better; you have to be sure that you’ve achieved that objective.
2. Start the meeting on time. Don’t wait for anyone and don’t go over what’s been discussed for latecomers. Of course, you really shouldn’t have latecomers and if you do, speak to them individually after the meeting and sort it out.
3. Have a structured agenda showing start time, breaks and finish time. Don’t schedule meetings to start on the hour; say 1.20 rather than 1 0’clock. And if it’s a half day meeting, start in the afternoon rather than the morning; people will keep moving if they think they will be late leaving work. Ruthlessly stick to that agenda; don’t allow people to ramble or talk about things not on the agenda. If you want to have chit-chat time – put it on the agenda! Keep people moving and even get them out the door before the finish time on the agenda.
4. Make meetings fun. Supply snacks, drinks, fruit and chocolate. Start the meeting with a fun energiser game or quiz. Let one of the team chair the meeting occasionally (as long as they control the agenda). Allow people to have a laugh; create energy and enthusiasm.
So there you have it; Motivational Managers run structured meetings with clear objectives where people have fun and resultantly contribute and get things done.
Alan Fairweather, ‘The Motivation Doctor,’ is an International Business Speaker, Best Selling Author and Sales Growth Expert.
For the past sixteen years, he’s been turning ‘adequate’ managers, sales and customer service people into consistent top performers.
He is the author of two books:
‘How to be a Motivational Manager’ A down-to-earth guide for managers and team leaders.
‘How to Manage Difficult People’ Proven strategies for dealing with challenging behaviour at work.
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Reading Buddies: Its Effect on Emotional Intelligence and Reading Comprehension
Reading Buddies: Its Effect on Emotional Intelligence and Reading Comprehension
Reading Buddies: Its Effect on Emotional Intelligence and Reading Comprehension
It is 8:15 on a Friday morning and half of my sixth grade students are preparing materials for their trek to Mrs. Stewart’s third grade classroom, while the other half prepares for their third grade visitors. Mrs. Stewart and Mr. Alvarado have teamed to provide a little Reading Buddy program for their classes. Every Friday morning Mr. Alvarado’s 6th grade students take their third grade reading buddy through the lesson plan that was created the day before. The lesson plan outline consists of 5-10 minutes of phonics review/instruction, 15-20 minutes of basic sight word development, and 30 minutes of shared reading and comprehension strategies. The hour is intensive with lots of conversation, laughter, and excitement about reading. Mrs. Stewart and Mr. Alvarado frequently discuss the challenges of such a program, but on a larger scale celebrate the positive activities taking place. Celebrations included the improvement in sight word development; a similar result was found in a study by Butler (1999), improvement in reading ability and confidence, improved self-confidence and empathy of our students, and an overall student excitement over this activity, to name a few. In point of fact, research supports the informal observations of Mrs. Stewart and Mr. Alvarado. For example, Bower (2001) suggests students gravitate towards reading with a buddy as opposed to reading by themselves.
As a reading teacher, I could not imagine operating my sixth grade classroom absent a Reading Buddy program for my students and the affect it could have on improving the reading ability of their little buddies. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001has the potential to exclude a program, such as reading buddies, from being a component to a rich literature environment. In a study conducted by Bower (2001), third grade students, the experimental group, were paired and subjected to six weeks of reading buddy comprehension activities. The control group, an equal number of students, read and completed the comprehension activities independently. The findings, although not statistically significant, supported the researcher’s hypothesis that the experiment group would outperform the control group in improved comprehension skills. Equally, Cazden (1988) found reading partners with an emphasis on literature discussions to be an effective component to a reading program. Because NCLB is supported by the findings of the National Reading Panel (NRP) of which its research methodology is credentialed as Scientifically Based Reading Research (SBBR), the NCLB legislation has the support in place to potentially discourage, if not prohibit, teachers from using Reading Buddies. Because of its influence on reading instruction, it’s important to understand the mission and the finding of the National Reading Panel.
National Reading Panel
In 1997, the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) was given the directive by congress to ascertain the state of reading instruction programs in the United States of America. The request was adhered to, and as a result a National Reading Panel was convened. The charge of the panel was to:
…assess the status of research-based knowledge, including the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching children to read.” The panel was charged with providing a report that “should present the panel’s conclusions, an indication of the readiness for application in the classroom of the results of this research, and, if
appropriate, a strategy for rapidly disseminating this information to facilitate effective reading instruction in the schools. (NICHD, 2000, p. 1-1)
One of the challenges that faced the NRP was the timeline to meet its directive. When faced with the 100,000 studies, it devised methods to focus on what it considered to be the best. Its solution was to establish a set of prerequisites in the form of focus topics and guiding questions to consider when identifying reading research studies that best fit the directive of congress. The focus topics chosen were Alphabetics, Fluency, Comprehension, Teacher Education and Reading Instruction, and Computer Technology and Reading Instruction. The guiding questions considered were as follows:
1. Does instruction in phonemic awareness improve reading? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
2. Does phonics instruction improve reading achievement? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
3. Does guided repeated oral reading instruction improve fluency and reading comprehension? If so, how is this instruction best provided? 4. Does vocabulary instruction improve reading achievement? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
5. Does comprehension strategy instruction improve reading? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
6. Do programs that increase the amount of children’s independent reading improve reading achievement and motivation? If so, how is this instruction best
provided?
7. Does teacher education influence how effective teachers are at teaching children to read? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
In addition to the focus topics and guiding questions used to narrow the scope of the research, other characteristics were incorporated in the selecting of the research studies to be analyzed. A concern that many should have about this process is that many research studies were not considered in the analysis of establishing the report to congress. As an example, 364 potential studies were available for analysis in oral reading instruction, after inspection through the NRP’s research methodology criteria, only 16 studies were accepted and quantified to be a meta-analysis (NICHD, 2000, p. 12). This example represents approximately 95% of the non-acceptance rate of the studies available for analysis to the NRP and should have been an indicator to the potential flaw inherent in the process. Garan (2001) suggests that the NRP conducted a meta-analysis on so few studies because of the narrow model of research they included.
Another key finding in my research as to the possible inconsistency of the NRP’s research methodology exists within guiding question number six. This question focuses on whether independent reading improves reading achievement and motivation. However, Yatvin (2003) reports that the NRP did not have enough time to follow through and research certain focus topics including motivational factors in learning to read. Additionally, one of the more important focus topics considered in selecting the reading research studies to be analyzed was comprehension. However, Garan (2001) stated “the panel did not include reading comprehension or the application of phonics skills in authentic literacy events as necessary criteria in establishing what it termed a “general literacy” outcome.” (p. 6). These examples need to be considered as it establishes a question as to the accuracy of the report generated by the NRP and significantly draws the validity of the report into question.
NRP and Sound Research
A consideration that I wish to instill in this position paper is that a Reading Buddy program can improve Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and reading comprehension. This position paper is given strength in that the NRP report did not specifically dismiss these concepts, but rather it is my contention that because the NRP failed to follow through with the original outline of areas to research, opportunities for activities that promote EQ and reading comprehension should be considered. In addition, the many questions that challenge the consistency and integrity of the NRP are validated again when consideration of the response to the NRP’s lack of time to research areas of motivation and comprehension are weighed. The NRP (Garan, 2001) acknowledged the studies that it used in its research to determine a general literacy outcome did not include reading comprehension. In its investigation of key questions to consider in choosing research studies, the NRP identified the following as guiding question number six: Do programs that increase the amount of children’s independent reading improve reading achievement and motivation? If so, how is this instruction best provided?
According to the National Reading Panel summary (NRP, 2000, p. 19) a time limitation resulted in evaluating the research for purposes of meeting the congressional report deadline date. As a result the NRP was unable to follow through with its commitment of researching topics that fell within the parameters of the guiding question regarding reading achievement and motivation. This omission of this criterion does one of two things; first it has the potential of insinuating that motivation is not an important element of a sound reading program, or second, it can leave open an opportunity for research on this particular element. The position of this paper will focus on the latter and provide research on the area of Reading Buddies.
Reading Buddies
Understanding the success that reading buddies can bring to a school makes it vitally important to understand how to incorporate such a program.
Incorporating a successful Reading Buddy Program
In addition, lesson design instruction, in reference to amount of time available for the reading activity, was important to meeting the goal of the reading assignment (Friedland & Truesdell, 2004).
The coaching big buddy’s to read to and with their little buddy is an important element of the Reading Buddy Program. Big buddy’s were responsible to model and solicit responsible reading strategies of fluency and expression. Others strategies required during this reading buddy program were prediction, discussion, and comprehension (Block & Dellamura, 2000/2001). An important consideration to analyze here is that many different strategies are employed to the teaching of reading with comprehension being the winner. As Garan and DeVoogd (2008) notes in their Sustained Silent Reading paper, the NRP had trouble finding research on SSR largely in part because it focused on research that relied on component-skills model of reading as well as its focus on fluency and not comprehension as an outcome (Paris, 2005). The NRP specifically states that it ran out of time in identifying studies that researched comprehension. It is my contention, based on the facts, the NRP was destined in finding inaccurate results in the role comprehension plays in reading instruction.
To further increase the opportunities of comprehension, the big buddy was provided with a list of guided questions that would act as a catalyst for comprehension strategies (Block & Dellamura, 2000/2001). Theurer and Schmidt (2008) cite the following guided questions:
“Does this book remind you of another book you have read?
Who was your favorite character? Why?
What is the message in this book?
What was your favorite part of this story?
How would you change the ending of this story?
What character would you like to be? Why?
What is the problem in this story? How was it resolved?
Did you like this book? Why? Give two good reasons!” (p. 26)
Reading buddy programs have been shown to improve the reading ability of students with disabilities. Garan (2001) cited findings from the Reports of the Subgroup, (pp. 2-96, 2-135) stating, “…effectiveness of systematic phonics instruction were derived from studies conducted in many classrooms with typical classroom teachers and typical American or English-speaking students from a variety of backgrounds. . . Thus the results of the analysis are indicative of what can be accomplished when systematic phonics programs are implemented in today’s classrooms.” This statement and the NRP’s research failed to demonstrate how students with disabilities would benefit from such programs. Buter (1999) reported successful results on her Class-Wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) program. The program called for tutoring buddies to be paired with students of disabilities. Findings included a one year growth in sight word development and academic and social growth as well. Butler indicated that peer tutoring programs can be structured to benefit all students with additional successful components in the areas of academic and social development. Butler’s findings, one research study that took me about 1 hour to locate, add value to the possibility of reading buddy programs and what they add to improving academic and social intelligences.
The big buddy reading program’s goal of improving the reading potential of their little reading buddy was not the lone result that the director’s had in mind when venturing into this arena. An additional element that reading buddies has the potential of improving is one’s emotional intelligence. Goleman qualifies to be emotional intelligence: getting along with others, self-motivation, persistence, controlling impulses, empathizing, and regulating one’s moods (Goleman, 1996). Theurer and Schmidt (2008) share an important focus of the training is the interacting with their buddy. Big buddies were mentored in the importance of greeting their little buddy with a smile and to say goodbye when they left. The big buddies also practiced encouragements that complimented their buddy as well as strategies on what to do when their buddy was not listening, cooperating, or behaving inappropriately.
Following are some of the flaws to the brain research used to posture the establishment of the NCLB act.
Flawed Brain Research
The Reading First Program, a derivative of the NRP findings, was an initiative set forth by President George W. Bush based on scientific brain research. This research has some flaws in that its findings were, largely in part, due to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fmri), a process to measure differences in the brain activity (Willis, 2007). .
The issue with this fmri process is that the researcher only considered one portion of the brain’s complex reading network. The study, favoring the NRP’s position, was that the study was conducted in a region of the brain that is known to be more active during phonics processing (Willis, 2007). They say that when something looks and smells like a rat, it probably is a rat. Well, an interesting fact is that this portion of the brain became more active when the students tested on phonics processing activities. Again, if the goal is to learn constrained skills then fine, but reading involves comprehension and comprehension involves the development of unconstrained skills. Willis (2007) suggests that, “we cannot generalization from these findings that all reading improves when the so-called phonics center becomes more active.” (p. 3).
Willis (2007) reports that the brain glitch theory treatment of reading as an isolated and independent cognitive process is counterproductive to the complex process connecting multiple learning and association centers in the brain. Reading, at the minimum involves the limbic system, occipital cortex, associational subcortical frontal lobe centers, and medial temporal lobe and should really be aligned to instructional practices that stimulate multiple brain areas.
In addition, Willis (2007) cites (Brembs, Lorenzetti, Reyes, Baxter, & Byrne, 2002) having found interesting research on dopamine, brain proteins that are released and carry information throughout the brain. Dopamine release has been found to increase during pleasurable and positive experiences. Willis (2007) suggests that early studies show the amount of dopamine released by the brain increases during activities that involve playing, exercising, laughing, being read to, and recognizing personal achievements. It is my contention, based on the reading buddy research, that opportunities like these are abundant.
The education literature has included theories about the effects of emotion on language acquisition for decades. Dulay and Burt (1977) and Krashen (1982) proposed that strong positive emotion reinforces learning, whereas excessive levels of stress and anxiety interfere with learning.
Many are feeling that equally important is the educating of the “whole” child. (Rattigan, 2007).
As an example of benefits in educating the whole child, Rattigan (2007) shares that educating the “whole” child includes social and emotional aspects of learning which are strengthened in resilience skills. Henderson & Milstein (1996) define resilience to be “the capacity to spring back, rebound, successfully adapt in the face of adversity, and develop social, academic, and vocational competence despite exposure to severe stress or simply stress that is inherent in today’s world” (p.7). This idea of resiliency is one that can be taught and learned via the building of one’s emotional intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence
In addition to successes noted in academics, reading buddy programs demonstrated equal amounts of success in the areas of emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a term coined by Yale psychologist Peter Salovey and University of New Hampshire’s John Mayer. They describe EQ as the qualities one possesses to control one’s own emotions, empathize with the emotions of others, and regulate one’s feeling in times of crisis to improve the quality of life one lives (Gibbs,1995). Goleman offers that all students need to be made aware of emotional intelligence characteristics within the educational environment (Pool, 1997).
Conventional wisdom asserts that IQ is the best predictor of future success. Current research is suggesting that IQ may only be responsible for 20% of a person’s success, leaving 80% to other forces. Those forces are what Goleman suggests to be emotional intelligence: getting along with others, self-motivation, persistence, controlling impulses, empathizing, and regulating one’s moods (Goleman, 1996). The challenge then becomes for school staffs to not only increase test scores, but also assist in increasing student’s emotional intelligence.
The dilemma many educators confront when wanting to incorporate social-emotional curricula into the school day is that it challenges the traditional core curriculums (Harrington-Lueker, 1995). However, Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence has not come without criticism from his colleagues. Margarita Muniz, principal at Raphael Hernandez school in Boston, feels that there is not enough evidence of what constitutes a sound emotional-development program or how to even measure emotional aptitude. Other researchers argue that it is premature to insist that emotional intelligence can be
taught like polynomials or that these skills will help improve academic achievement. Linda Baker, guidance counselor at West Mills Middle School, New Haven Connecticut, says, “Finding time to teach EQ in an already packed school schedule is tough. It is equally difficult to find teachers who are adept at emotional skill building” (Harrington-
It is not either-or, it is both” (Harrington-Lueker, 1995, p. 3).
When considering what types of learning should be taking place inside of an educational institution, all stakeholders to the future leaders of our society should contemplate the function of the brain. The brain is composed of three main parts; the neo-cortex, limbic system, and brain stem. It is in the limbic system that all of our emotions are controlled. Within the limbic system are found two amygdala’s, which are responsible for receiving and sending all emotional messages. The amygdala’s are always communicating with the neo-cortex, which is responsible for analytical and verbal tasks. Our analytical thinking is always controlled by our emotions (Pool, 1997). Individuals who are mature and healthy have better connections with their amygdala’s, or emotional responses, therefore allowing the neo-cortex to make better decisions. Children who are constantly angry, frustrated, or subjected to bad environments experience interference by the amygdala, therefore making it hard for them to concentrate and thus learn. Because the amygdala doesn’t mature until a child is 15 or 16, we have
many opportunities to teach children how to handle their feelings (Pool, 1997).
Today’s children have created a new perspective for schools to consider when approaching the curricular and teaching strategies. In addition to teaching reading, writing, and math curriculum, schools are now becoming a center for social learning as well. Because children appear to be receiving less and less guidance and direction from their homes and communities, schools are having to commit themselves to creating an infrastructure that can address the student’s social and emotional deficiencies (Lantieri & Patti, 1996). As educators begin to brainstorm how to handle this decline of social adeptness, they along with parents and administrators worry about tradition. They are concerned that devoting class time to addressing this deficit will hurt traditional academics and ultimately create a decline in test scores (Elias & Butler, 1997).
There is still much to learn on how the brain learns and therefore, it is irresponsible to assume that any instructional strategy is best for learning to read. For the present moment teachers of reading must be guided by their professional knowledge base and their never-ending study of scientific evidence on how the brain responds to stimuli. There exists promising areas of research and practice.
Putting It All Together
I have often wondered what it would be like to not have been able to take my sixth grade students through our Little Buddy Reading Program. I was witness to my students benefitting in both Emotional Intelligence and Academic Intelligence. For several, the academic success came as a result of strengthening their emotional intelligence. My third grade colleague would also share, and had data to support her findings, that her third grade students grew in reading levels which required comprehension to increase.
The National Reading Panel having conducted its research with its interpretation of what constitutes sound SBBR, had a huge fan base in former President George W. Bush in creating reading instruction policy. This support system, in all honesty, should have prevented me from practicing the reading buddy program, but I felt it important for reading improvement and emotional intelligence growth.
In hindsight to the many flaws that have been discovered regarding the NRP, I find myself dancing in the rain, if you will, as to my decision in finding the time to make the reading buddy program work. First, the NRP established, in its own definition, a meta-analysis of the reading research. Its error was that it failed to recall that a meta-analysis is a comparison of results that encompass many and varied research studies; varied in the sense that it used relatively obscure methods in its study selection. In this weeding out process or selective process of research topics, the NRP failed to find research studies regarding comprehension. This omission established a hole in its committed research of comprehension and thus could have possibly omitted the benefits of a reading buddy program. One of the biggest blunders, if I may be so frank, of the NRP is its admission of running out of time to research studies on motivation and comprehension. Reading Buddy programs have shown to strengthen motivation and comprehension skills.
A sound reading buddy program has been shown to include activities that involve peer to peer support in the area of reading. The goal of my sixth grade reading buddy program was for the big buddy to assist his little buddy in reading and comprehending the story through strategies that support reading and comprehension. Some of these activities involved spelling practice, phonemic awareness strategies, fluency practice, and reading comprehension strategies. Many of these activities offer both constrained and unconstrained skill practice and development. The NRP’s research was based on constrained skill research, which offers another reason as to why many research studies were omitted. In addition to omitting research on comprehension, the NRP was selective in its brain research to support their findings on reading achievement.
A main poster child of the NRP findings was the establishment of The Reading First Program, an initiative enacted by former President George W. Bush. I recall being a reading first school and many times was questioned about my reading buddy program and how it was not an approved NCLB practice that improved reading achievement. This research was based on flawed scientific brain research that only considered one portion of the brain’s complex reading network. In addition, this research favored the NRP’s purpose of finding research that showed reading achievement occurring in the brain region that is most active during phonics processing. Again, we are reminded that The Reading First Program was a phonics based curriculum, and from first-hand experience it was a “sleeper,” but, it did however fit the NRP’s bill of identifying research that focused on constrained skills. The NRP’s failure in this thought process is that comprehension is a crucial criterion for reading achievement. The Reading Buddy Program has proven to be positive for comprehension and as an additional component has been positive for improving emotional intelligence.
Reading Buddy Programs involve students working together for a common purpose of reading development. Evidences have demonstrated that brain activity is intensified during this process that involves laughter, being read to, and receiving confirmation of good work. All of these attributes of what a Reading Buddy Program has to offer is associated with Emotional Intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence, as defined by Goleman, is the ability to get along with others, be self-motivated, empathize with others, control impulses, and regulate one’s moods. A need for emotional intelligence to be taught in school is found in research that demonstrates the success of person amounts to 20% of academic intelligence and 80% to emotional intelligence. Understanding this relationship of intelligences to success would prompt educators to planning their teaching on lessons that espouse these two types of intelligences. Reading buddy programs can be a way to compliment the two intelligences.
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My name is Johnny Alvarado and I am a middle school principal. I am currently working on my doctorate degree and have an assingment of attempting to public an article. This my first article in attempting to publish, so I am awaiting any first attempt comments you may have to share.
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