Everything George Lakoff says here about the importance of framing in our conversations about Climate Change is just as true about the importance of framing in our conversations about Reforming the US Education System.

We’re wasting our breath unless the ways we speak about using Web 2 tools to support informal and formal education connect with people’s fundamental values. Values like truth-telling and practicality and the importance of following our pioneering spirit.

 Authenticity and freedom of choice aren’t “bleeding edge” values. They’re grounded in the very heart-and-soul of what it means to be an American. Doing what works in ways that were easiest for most people to access was at the heart of the original movement to create public education.

What Lakoff has been writing and speaking about for 30 years needs to be applied now to integrate social media into US “classrooms,” whether they’re in public buildings or private homes.  The American way of life is already a polar bear on a fast-melting iceberg in the sea of globalized economics.  Using Web 2 tools to teach and learn can slow down this meltdown…  It’s time to change our thinking about them from “new” to “necessary.”  They are the life preserver we’re throwing ourselves.  

(cc) Roger Jones

For too long learners have been let down by the way they’ve  been taught math.

In fact, a lack of math proficiency remains one of the biggest single problems shared by learners across the globe, regardless of country.

Sarah Bartram is an online teaching pioneer who is making a difference for hundreds of learners who are fed up and reaching out for help with math - online.

An out-of-the-box thinker, it’s not too surprising that Sarah has chosen to teach online. But it is interesting that her passion and commitment to teaching developed OUTSIDE the expected teachers’college.

Yes, you read that right.

While Sarah is college trained, she is not a “certified” teacher. Instead, she is a woman with a sheer love of mathematics, a person who enjoys helping people understand and solve math problems they find too challenging to solve on their own.

And she’s made it her business to help them!

Learners LOVE working with Sarah because she makes their needs her #1 priority.

It’s easy to see just HOW MUCH they love working with her, skimming through the hundreds of stellar reviews they have left for her on LivePerson.com.

Basing her work on the belief that everyone can learn math, Sarah uses her online teaching business and her face-to-face tutoring practice to make a very decent living doing exactly what she loves most - teaching mathematics.

(cc) Ben Cummings

How simple can you get?

1. Learners ask for and receive the math help they need.
2. Sarah makes a decent living doing what she loves.
3. Things start turning around for learners - Online.

I invite you to listen to Sarah talk about how she’s doing her part to make a dent in a global problem - that really doesn’t have to be a global problem.

…then I suggest you consider how you might start sharing your teaching passions DIRECTLY with global learners - online.

You don’t have to quit teaching to collect on your education!

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As the US economy gets tighter and tighter, everywhere I turn, another friend is telling me they want to see some REAL CHANGE - meaning they want their life to feel better, easier, more rewarding and more meaningful.

But the trouble is, they’re experiencing some or all of these symptoms:

1. They have lots to be grateful for, yet can’t stop thinking about what’s not right in their lives…
2. They sabotage themselves by dwelling on stuff that happens and let it pull them down, down, down..
3. They know they are depressed, but can’t seem to find a lifeline to pull themselves back up…
4. They’ve heard about the Law of Attraction, but feel that maybe it works for some, but not for them…

Maybe there are days when you feel this way. I know I have them…

Do you wish there was a way to STOP all this negativity in its tracks and flip the switch on your bad attitude right in this very moment?

Well, hold onto your hats, because I’ve found a simple little thing that will do just that. No kidding!

It’s called AttitudeZapz! by Debbie Thomas and it is a collection of short, catchy little jingles made with affirmation statements as the lyrics. They get quickly stuck in your head, so you can be reciting your affirmations all day long.

Ever read through a list of affirmations that you passionately wrote at one time, but your subconscious “Belief Detective” has kept calling you, “Liar, liar, pants on fire?” so you finally gave up in disgust and stopped reciting them?

Well you can go here and find the antidote for that one!

Here’s the exciting part: when was the last time your subconscious “Belief Detective” argued with you about song lyrics?

These AttitudeZapz! are so short and catchy, they are a breeze to memorize, so the lyrics slip right past that monster and start seeping in into your subconscious in no time.

I’ve found - no kidding - that I’m singing them in my head when I wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And then, once I’m up in the morning, and someone does something that might really have set me off, I notice the antidote lyric pops up right when I need it. I go sailing through, with my mind clear and bright and the situation turns around on a dime.

If you’ve ever struggled to find a way to change your attitude in the MOMENT, you’ve got to try this.

Go here to check it out for yourself.

You can download a totally no cost sample just to see how it works. And then, Debbie’s got the launch price so low, anyone can afford to get a NEW ATTITUDE**

As the saying goes: When you BELIEVE it, you will SEE it.

Once you’ve tried a few, please let me know what you think!

NEWSFLASH! SPECIAL BONUS!!

As soon as I made this post, Debbie’s website had some technical problems and folks couldn’t get in.

I’m really sorry about that…and so is she. Debbie has offered to make up for the trouble by giving a FREE copy of her new book, The Path to Success, to anyone who decides to get themselves a copy of AttitudeZapz because you’ve read about it here at MAWS TOOLBOX.

I’d call that a very generous gesture!

Debbie’s coauthors on this book include Wayne Dyer, Jack Canfield, and Mark Victor Hansen.

So, if you want a TWO FOR ONE, when you get your copy of AttitudeZapz, just send Debbie an email at debbie@attitudezapz.com, tell her Meri sent you, and be sure to include your mailing address. She’ll send you a copy of The Path to Success for FREE, including free shipping. Be sure to include in your message, “Meri sent me.”

“When I believe it, I will see this… or something better…come to me.”

It’s true, y’all! I urge you to check ‘em out…

Michael Hodosh, aka Dr. Michael, is a 49-year-old clinical psychologist who is shifting his focus from face-to-face counseling to counseling online.

He’s making a lot more money online in a lot less time. And he feels he is able to help people more than he can many times in face-to-face conventional systems.

You can do the same! 

Dr. Michael does his work through Kasamba, newly acquired by Live Person.

There are dozens of online marketplaces like the one Mike is using. More are springing up every week. And people who can see new possibilities are starting to transition their counseling and life coaching practices from conventional face-to-face settings to working online through these marketplaces.

In fact, Dr. Michael is one of over 30,000 professionals registered at Kasamba (now Live Person) to help people find solutions to their most pressing problems.

With a doctorate in psychology and training as a coach through CTI, Mike currently earns from $5-6K a month in as little as 80 hours a month providing direct service to people who contact him at Kasamba, or through one of the other online profiles he maintains.

Over the course of his career, Mike has developed expertise in post-traumatic stress, shame, guilt, self-esteem, relationships, depression, anxiety, various forms of addiction, schizophrenia, and other kinds of psychotic disorders.

One of his greatest strengths is knowing how to make people feel comfortable talking about things they might never have talked about before.

Listen to Dr. Michael talk about how he’s leveraging his strengths and the resources available at Kasamba (now Live Person) to make more money in less time while helping people across the globe. You can do the same!

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Listening to Mark Cruthers talk about his experience teaching AP History online to a group of homeschoolers, what comes up for you?

If you haven’t yet heard this interview, see previous post to listen: “How to Make an Extra $25,000 A Year Teaching A Few Homeschoolers Online.”

The WizIQ free virtual classroom, Elluminate, Kasamba, Moodle, and the new tutoring environment at LearnHub are opening doors to brand new possibilities for teachers - of all kinds - and learners - of all ages.

We truly CAN teach and learn whatever we want, anywhere and anytime we’re ready.

Some of us want to enjoy this freedom now. But there’s way too much information to decide where to start.

We want reliable tools and strategies that will work for each of us. And we’re different.

I’m recommending that clients use these 9 questions to chart their own best course:

1. What do you want to learn live - and online - with others?

2. What could you teach in a free virtual classroom?

3. What would be the most fun to teach and learn with a group of people with whom you’re not co-located?

4. What might you need to translate about the way you work face-to-face so that you can create a trusting, vital, collaborative learning relationship with others in a virtual classroom or office?

5. What will you need from live teachers and co-learners for you to achieve your best performance?

6. What kind of help do you want navigating collaboratively with others? What would you prefer to explore alone?

7. What other questions come up for you when you think about teaching and learning whatever you want online?

8. Where and how will you evaluate the answers you find?

9. When would now be a good time to start experimenting with some new possibilities?

As you consider these questions, please choose one or more of them and share your thoughts and feelings below using text.

Alternately, you can share your thoughts using your microphone, telephone, or webcam on THIS VOICETHREAD.

Soon, I will convene a live session, using WizIQ, where we can explore our thoughts and share our experiences in this brave new world of live, online teaching and learning.

Watch this space for an announcement of the date and time.

Starting today, our radio show, “Teaching For A Living, Not Just A Paycheck” will now be hosted both here and on my profile page inside the WeAreTeachers Network.

Show #2 features an interview with Mark Cruthers, an AP History teacher living in Pinion Hills, California, where he teaches both face-to-face and online.

Monday to Friday, from 7:30am to 3:30pm, Mark teaches traditional high school students face-to-face. Then, after 4pm, Mark teaches teaches homeschool students - online.

Last year, he and his wife, Deborah, made an extra $25,000 teaching 13 homeschoolers AP History, AP English and AP Psychology using a free, virtual classroom tool called WizIQ. And every one of them passed their AP History exams with flying colors, too!

I’d call what Mark’s doing teaching for a living, not just a paycheck.

Listen to him talk about how he’s doing this here:

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