More Than One Way To Be Smart

Do you know why public education was originally created ? Most believe it was created to promote literacy, so that all could be educated and in turn, better their existence in the long run.

Did you know that's false?

After child labor laws were created at the turn of the century and children could no longer work in the factories, there was rampant vagrancy, criminal behavior and other mischief because the "kiddies" of the masses were left unsupervised all day and cities had to "get them off the streets" to keep all that mischief "in check". At the same time, everyone viewed the Henry Ford concept of the assembly line as the most efficient way to get things done. Both of those created the public education system that exists today!

But wait, that was almost a hundred years ago......and the system pretty much operates the same way with minor changes.

Yes, we need to have a literate workforce and citizens that can efficiently operate in an advanced technological world, but one area in which WE are failing is the recognition that not every student is smart in the same way--there are students that are not very good Math scholars---but they have a tremendous ear for music, or they are good at reading people, or maybe they are Math geniuses--but they can't even compose a sentence that makes sense.

Ever heard of The Theory of Natural Intelligences?
This concept was developed by a professor of education at Harvard many years ago. It's central theory is that IQ is not the total package of intelligence and EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING has an area in which they excel. Look at some of the most famous theorists, inventors, philosophers, artists, philanthropists, and biologists in time......Albert Einstein was thought to be mentally retarded in his early school years---but he found another environment in which he succeeded and thrived!!

I think individual intelligences is a concept that needs to be recognized and utilized in public education AND as a self-reflective process in everyone's life---this one simple question: WHAT IS MY GIFT?
If individuals discover the answer to this question, they will have less chance of living in poverty and work unhappiness would be at a minimum.

If we are to help children and teenagers find their "gift", we must begin early in providing educational experiences that will reinforce that journey to the discovery of their natural gift...and certainly our pre-prescribed test benchmarks are not accomplishing that task!!!

Sunday Morning Going Down

Sunday mornings are a great time for introspection and musing about what lies ahead of us for the week and month and year and years and years......

We all have people we admire and who serve as an inspiration to us as to what we can become and what we could accomplish.

This morning I was doing my usual "paper-readin', coffee-drinkin', news-watchin' " ritual and an interview with Jimmy Carter was featured. One of the points in the interview was that he has accomplished much more as an EX-president than what he accomplished as President. I have always admired Jimmy Carter TREMENDOUSLY because I always saw him as a politician UNLIKE other politicians--one with an extreme social consciousness and a person of tremendous compassion. I also didn't know that he has written many books, is a painter, and also an accomplished woodworker. Many of his paintings sell for $250,000 or more--and every bit of the money goes to the Carter center, which oversees a lot of philanthropic activities all over the world. He is just an amazing person!! He inspires me so much--he is 81 years old and travels all over the world--recently overseeing the Palestinian elections (what a mess that is right now.....) and some people at 81 relegate themselves to a rocking chair. I would so much LOVE to do some of things he does. Right after the program, Face the Nation interviewed President Bush--what an antithesis, although I really feeling rather sorry for P.B. as of late....he is a man who came to be elected and he was totally unprepared for the job and he has trusted the REAL villains in his administration (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove) and he has to fend the criticisms. but really....could he please learn how to pronounce the word "nuclear"???
Other people who have used their great wealth for social good--Bill Gates, Oprah, Bono, etc. then think of all other people of great wealth---and what do they do?
To have money and do good things--now that is what would make being wealthy fun and satisfying.....I if I could be so lucky!!!!

Friday Food for Thought: A Slippery Slope

Ironic that yesterday I was writing about "how much do we really need??" and this article (read below) appears in the paper this morning.

A state or society that has a definite desparity between the "haves" and "have nots" is walking on a "slippery slope". Anyone who studied World History in high school or college should remember that some of the most significant and dangerous events have been triggered by a suffering "underclass" seeking a way out of its misery. Think about the overthrow of the Russian Czar at the turn of the century, the German people's sufferings after WWI was a fertile ground for the philosophies of Adolf Hitler and the list could go on and on!

I think that those "in charge" (and I am not really sure just who is really in charge anymore...) need to think about this....this could be a growing problem and a factor in national security.

Citizens need career and life planning more than ever....which economic group would YOU like to belong to??

here is the article below:

Study says Texas leads U.S. in income gap between rich and middle-class
AUSTIN (AP) - The income gap between rich and middle- class families is wider in Texas than in any other state, and the gap between rich and poor families is the second-widest in the nation, a study released Thursday found.
In the early 2000s, the average income of the richest 20 percent of Texas families was $118,971, almost three times the average income of the middle 20 percent of families, which was $41,015, according to the study conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute.
The richest 20 percent of Texas families made just over eight times as much as the poorest 20 percent of families, whose average income was $14,724, the study found. Nationally, the average income of the richest families was $122,152, 2.6 times higher than the average income of families in the middle and 7.3 times higher than the average income of the poorest families.
The study, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, also found that in Texas and nationwide, the incomes of the richest families climbed substantially over the past two decades, while less wealthy families saw only modest income gains.
Elizabeth McNichol, a senior fellow with the center, said the uneven growth violates a fundamental principle of our economic system - that workers will be rewarded for helping our economy grow.
"When income growth is concentrated at the top of the income scale, the people at the bottom have a much harder time lifting themselves out of poverty and giving their children a decent start in life," she said.
The study blames a number of factors for the growth in income inequality, including long periods of high unemployment, globalization, the loss of manufacturing jobs and the expansion of low-wage service jobs.
It suggests states could narrow the gap by raising the minimum wage, offering low-wage workers support services such as transportation or child care, and increasing their reliance on income taxes rather than sales taxes, which the authors say take a larger percentage of income from low- and middle-income families than from the wealthy.
"To a large degree we're all in this together," said Don Baylor, a policy analyst with the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates increased spending on social services. "We're either going to rise or fall as a state together."
The study's findings and proposals didn't sit well with Michael Quinn Sullivan, vice president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin think tank that advocates limited government and free markets.
He said income inequality studies are arbitrary analyses that don't take into consideration the "high turnover of wealth in the United States."
"Look at someone like a Bill Gates, look at Steve Jobs, look at Michael Dell," Sullivan said. "They did not come from money and they're now very, very, very, very wealthy individuals."
But James K. Galbraith, who teaches economics and government at the University of Texas at Austin, said businesses would rather have a well-trained work force than a favorable tax climate.
And educating the work force allows people to get better jobs that pay more money.
"If the gap between rich and poor gets too big, people will quit trying to move up the socio-economic ladder," said Galbraith.

Greed or "PC"

Whenever I have an occasion to drive from end of the city to the next (which is not TOO often) I see the disparity in people's neighborhoods--their houses, the merchants that they are able to access, their cars, the condition of the block in which they live and it causes me to feel a little sad and somewhat guilty. I see the children that play in those neighborhoods and wonder if they will be relegated to the same life as their parents.
The recent death of the elderly couple due to hypothermia, really made me think AND again feel guilty. They were so proud and didn't want anyone to help them and they had lived without ANY utilities since May--no water, no electricity, no gas--no lights, no A/C, no showers, no way to cook. and it would have cost the utility companies very little to have extended them some credit. when their utilities were shut-off, a technician had to go out and knock on the door to inform them of the cut-off--when they came to the door didn't he see that they were elderly and one of them was on oxygen--guess not!!

I mean, how much do we all really need? I guess I shouldn't feel too guilty because I drive a 12 year old car--cars are not really that important to me--they are just a means to an end--I keep it clean and it is dependable and best of all--I don't have a car payment (I detest paying car payments!!) I live in a house that is 52 years old--but it is big and roomy and it is nothing extravagant, really. but then I read news items that talk about how much money some of the CEO's of big corporations make and I am just wondering---what could you really do with all that money???...I mean surely they don't spend it all.... and the houses that I see people living in right here in Lubbock....I mean let's get real, here--many of them are just a purely vulgar display of wealth. Is it really necessary for some to live THAT large?? how much room do you really need for the three or four of you?
It's just my personal opinion....but if you live in a Taj Mahal type dwelling, you shouldn't be allowed to have another house until you have a build a basic house for someone else who doesn't have one.
Now, some would say: "well, that's not fair, I work really hard for my money"--well I don't think you work as hard and under such bad conditions as some of those who don't have as much as you....ever worked on an assembly line and only get two bathroom breaks per day or done construction, or shoveled gravel on I-27 in 100+ degree heat? and the pay of these jobs don't at all compensate for the less-than-ideal conditions.
Now some would say to this: "hey I had to sacrifice a lot to get the education that I got and do all the work necessary to get where I am today." well sure, that's understandable to think that way--but I am wondering how many lucky "breaks" you had because of your family or because you had a mentor or a parent or a coworker that helped you?
I am not trying to make those of you that are successful feel guilty, but just think about that question when you book your tickets to St. Croix or think about buying a new Lexus, or when you think you need a new Louis Vuitton purse.
How much do you really need??

Grab Life by the Tail

A very busy day today....lots of college admission "thangs" to do for my son and lots of official paper working "thangs" for the business. I joined the Chamber today and applied for membership with the BBB. These organizations have some very, very nice, nice people working for them!! I enjoyed my visits with them very much!! and I am looking forward to activities within each organization. Not only will they help my business, hopefully, but they will give me some great fellowship as well.....
I have realized something from the last week or so....we can never afford to sit back and COAST....we have to keep growing and doing things that we have never done before, meeting people we haven't met before.
As humans, we cannot afford to get TOO comfortable in a "comfort zone" because we get lazy, unambitious. I teach this in my seminars all the time, so why I didn't "internalize" my own message....I don't know.....we are just like house plants....if we outgrow the pot we are in....somebody better put in another bigger, better pot or sooner or later...we will become "potbound" and DIE!!! It is never too late, never too soon, never too hopeless to become something new, someone new, and learn a new trick!
So, KEEP MOVING....don't let "brain paralysis" set in, get out and face the world, do something new. Things don't happen by magic or luck--they happen by taking risks and working hard.
There's something new to learn everyday!!!

Drink from the fountain of career news!!

Oh, it is Tuesday!!! and almost the end of January....
I am trying to make some decisions about whether to continue on with what I have been doing for the last year (almost!!) or whether to get back into the 8-5 "thang". I am about to have a child in college and it is very expensive. I don't think he will be able to work because he is so involved in his music and acting and then he will need to study, of course (small little detail there....)
today I added my blog link on my website: www.careertpms.com.
I hope some people will be reading. I do try to think thoughtfully about these things.
My heart is heavy for those individuals who will be losing their employment with Ford Motor Corporation. I read on www.workforcemanagement.com that each of them will be given at least $15,000 for continuing education to be retrained in another career. The only stipulation was that they must be involved in that FULL TIME--which will be difficult if they are single parents or the only source of income.
I wish I could send each of them an email and tell them the following things:
1. "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"
This could be their chance to really, really do something that they
have always wanted to do and now they have money to go into that.
2. "Sometimes God gives us a gift that is wrapped up in a problem."
God is really, really busy and when he does something it has to impact
more than just US alone. It is my belief that all these "little things"
that happen to us are not random events but they strategically
placed so that 1) we live up to our potential and therefore, glorify
God and his creations and 2)we learn something about ourselves and
therefore become more like God and 3) we impact someone else be-
cause of it.

Just a little metaphysical philosophy from Counselor Carol this morning!!!

I need to work on "THE BOOK" this morning.

Pray for a money blessing for me so that I can continue to do what I love to do.

Happy Tuesday!!!

Just Another Manic Monday

Now actually, this is NOT true for me anymore. I can't tell all of you how wonderful this is for me....Mondays, I mean.

I have come to appreciate my career testing business SO MUCH!!!

Each time, I am blessed to have another client, I get so PUMPED...it is so much fun to talk with them, to test them. The part of the process that I love so much is taking all the pieces of each client (i.e. the testing, the talking, the self-awareness forms I have them complete) and I love trying to put all these pieces together and compose options for them and then the icing on the cake is to have them do some really efficient career decision making actions and it becomes THEIR plan...

I love that de-mystifying the person process. So, so, so much fun!!

I have found that I do a better job and I enjoy it more if I don't have more than three clients simultaneously. I just love my clients--I am still in contact with all of them--I email them and check on them and they email me and ask questions and let me know how things are doing!! too wonderful....

I try to work each morning for two hours on my writing projects. To do this, I try to move my laptop to my bedroom to watch the sun rise. It kind of separates the process of my career business from my writing business. The atmosphere helps to separate the two different thinking processes--and they do require very different thinking processes!

enjoy your Monday!

There's still hope for Boomers!!!

There are more and more articles written about Baby Boomers and rightfully so....check out this article in newsweek by Dr. Gene Cohen who is in charge of the Center on Aging at George Washington University. Ever wonder why individuals take up painting and sculpting, writing, music, etc after retirement. This article tells a lot about the changing brain in middle age. this was very enlightening to me about why I am compelled to write things for free, paint my back yard fence with mural art, etc.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10753221/site/newsweek/?GT1=7538

Another great article about boomers and careers can be read at www.workforce.com
The article is titled: "Could Your Best New Hire Be a Recareering Boomer?"
the concept of recareering is very interesting. If retiring teachers only knew how valuable they are to businesses--they have the work ethic, the multi-tasking--all of the things that commerce is seeking. Recareering should be a routine process in the next 10 years with all the retiring teachers that are predicted to leave teaching. Of course, this will be a bad thing for education because of the "brain drain" concept of systems. The worst I believe is for retiring counselors--simply because they know the ISD systems backward and forward because they have to APPLY this information DAILY.....no other position has to have as much knowledge about rules and regs (local, state, national, secondary and post-secondary) when the most knowledgeable retire BEWARE of the snafu's that will be made when advising students--because the NEWBIES do not know this information NOR do they really see a need to know this information. It is a scary time for all!!!

Interested in At Risk Students?

I hope that if watch PBS, that you watched the David Sutherland film--Country Boys on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. If you have ever taught in an alternative school or worked with children in poverty--you will resonate very strongly with this film. You can read about the film at the link below

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/countryboys/

Houston, we have a problem.....

Go to this link to read: Houston is about to become the largest school district in the US to link teacher pay to test scores.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3580770.html



this is very disturbing.....
any comments??
also, click on this link about Jaime Escalante (remember Stand and Deliver?) and what he is doing now. He doesn't even live in the US anymore; he teaches in Bolivia.....(where did Lou Diamond Phillips go??) A most interesting interview....he voices most everything that I am thinking....

The U.S. Department of LaborBureau of Labor Statistics
recently published their latest predictions for job growth

Here are the findings, I think you will find them interesting.

Industries with the largest job growth
The 10 detailed industries with the largest wage and salary employment growth, 2004-14
(I have listed them by percentage)
Industry
Employment services
45.5
Local government educational services
10.1
Local government, excluding education and hospitals
13.9
Offices of physicians
37.0
Full-service restaurants
16.6
General medical and surgical hospitals, private
16.0
Limited-service eating places
15.9
Home health care services
69.5
Colleges, universities, and professional schools, private
34.3
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services
60.5

I think these are very interesting statistics. The industry with the third fastest growth is one that involves Employment Services--now keep in mind these are not only companies that have physical addresses, but they are also online....for instance-Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com etc. These statistics bear out my concern about the new sub-culture in America--job-hatred, which according the Chicago-Times is a very growing problem in the U.S.
It is no surprise to me that Home Health Services is the fastest growing because Americans are living longer and want to stay at home rather than be in a hospital--number one, because of the cost. This is a very big business and I think that we will see it grow even faster than they predict....think about how big it will be in 20 years. The first Baby Boomers turn 60 this year and in 20 years when the "First Boomers" are 80--they will really need more employees--this will in turn lead to an even bigger need for RN's, LVN's, and Aides (more then the need we even have now!!)
I would like to have more information on the second highest growing area: Scientific and technical consulting. I am thinking that these businesses are probably biotech in nature. This industry is also going to be booming and most individuals don't even know what the term "biotech" entails. This means we need get more students involved in Chemistry and the Life Sciences--which is precisely where we are lagging behind now. It is my feeling that if students were to take the Science classes but somehow be connected with businesses in their community that actually use the concepts being taught in Chemistry and Biosciences, we would see more students intersted in the Sciences. Theory is lost on students--if they could see WHY the theory is important, out in the community, outside the school environment, it would get more attraction.
I keep telling my counseling clients and speaking audiences that 65% of the fastest growing careers are in the Medical area--and not just being a doctor or nurse!!! New medical discoveries are made everyday and for each discovery, several new jobs go along with it.
Of course, I need to add a postscript to this little discussion--individuals shouldn't use labor market information as the sole factor in career choice. There can be a "boatload" of opportunities in an industry sector, but if that is not your "thang" and you don't get "fired up" about it.....then it is not for you!! but is nice to know about obstacles and opportunities in your career attraction.

What's in the news?

I subscribe to hundreds of mailing lists about education and careers and as I read them I am fascinated that NONE of them mention anything about the kids!
Just this evening, EdWeek had a forum on "Is it Right to Make a Superientendent the scapegoat?" I just laughed as I wrote: "I don't care!"...what I do care about is the fact that when I read articles about education, I see lots of "jargon"--assessment, data management, benchmark, end of course exams, TAAS, TAKS, CPAT, TPAT (all those letters can change depending on the state in which you live!) I read about principals "boo-hoo"-ing about how difficult it is to take care of their budgets--but I didn't hear anything about kids, about how they are, about what they need, about how they feel. I would compare it to Ford Motor company paying more attention to a carbuerator than to the customer that buys the car.
I used to subscribe to the government daily news letter about the Department of Education---well, gee, I thought that was what it was...I had to check and make sure I had subscribed to the right publication because I had the impression that it was Ms. Spelling's personal marketing site.
Personal marketing.....now that is another subject for another day because that is something that has been on mind a lot. Ahhh the evolution of the image of public education.

Counselor Carol hard at work 

Is Anybody Reading?

If you read my profile you know that I am still (even after 28 years) obsessed with United States public education system. I have been retired for almost a year now and I still am subscribed to many educational newsletters and forums. I maintain my reading of educational news. With my career testing, writing and speaking business, I am in daily contact with the population (students and parents) that is supposed to be served by public education and I hear mostly negative feedback. I thought maybe I was thinking negatively and was catching the "crispy critter syndrome"--burnout--but I happily say that it is not just me.....I am still hoping that someone will GET IT! When I say get it, I mean get back to the basics of education....and no....I don't mean the 3R's!!!
I guess I have to ask three questions:
1. Why do we have public education?
2. What should we hope to accomplish by having public education?
3. If students are a by-product of the public education system--what should the product look like when it is finished?
I am a pretty global thinker and I like to get down to the nuts and bolts of things--if I am going to work for someone, I want to know what their expectations are--if I do a good job...in your opinion, Mr. Boss, what will that job look like, feel like, smell like, and sound like.
I think that is only part of the problem today--if a student is successful--what does it look like, feel like, smell like, etc. Every school district employee has a different take on what success looks like--depending on what role they play in the district or the building, or the room....for principals it is one thing, for teachers another thing, for counselors another thing, for the nurse an entirely different view....we are not all on the same page. Everyone's "stuff" is more important than everybody else's stuff!!
Let's all get on the national same page FIRST--then pattern schools after those expectations.