"Use your words..."

I can't deny the power of nonverbal communication; it's often far more powerful or important than verbal communication, but I also can't deny the power of using words.  As my son was growing up, we often would remind him of that phrase. Sometimes noises and whining just can't make things happen, but using words to clearly communicate what your needs are can.  When Gretchen G. came to speak to us this week, she used the phrase "Use your words" quite a few times, and I couldn't help but think of using the phrase with my son and how I've just started using it for my daughter; the cycle is beginning all over again.

"You've Got....A Friend in Me" Psycholocial Noise

I love the movie You've Got Mail. I've seen it more times than I can count since the first time in the theater with my high school boyfriend, now husband.  I'm well aware of who the actors and actresses are as well as the characters, but no matter how many times I've seen it, there's only one face I can imagine when Joe Fox does his voice overs and intrapersonal communication,  and it's not Tom Hanks.  Whenever I hear the voice of Tom Hanks, no matter what movie or character, this is all I can picture:

Recency Theory

Normally, I am more of a primacy theory person, meaning first impressions stick more than most recent interactions.  Jenn from the Minneapolis Business College is the exception to that.  I was expecting my favorite MBC speaker this morning, a man named Jody. When Jenn walked in, I was immediately taken back to her last visit to my classroom where I struggled to keep up with her energy and lightning-fast pace.  That created some psychological noise for me; I had a hard time focusing on her based on both my disappointment that it wasn't Jody and the fact our last interaction wasn't the most pleasant for me. Nevertheless, she offers some EXCELLENT information and complements our Chapters 5 and 6 in class. I'm hoping you were able to still connect with and learn from her presentation today.

Music across cultures

I've been watching a lot of Olympics this year. Outside of curling, I really enjoy watching the ice skating and ice dancing programs. Something that has really surprised me is how much American music is found across cultures. For example, there have been multiple routines done to music from Moulin Rouge. Last night, a 19-year-old from Hungary performed to two songs by ACDC.  It's really interesting to me to see music across the cultures along with the more traditional instrumental stuff.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy being put to the test

I woke up this morning with the all-over aches, a sore throat, inability to "wake up," and I've been blowing my nose constantly.  I know that there is A LOT going around. I've been doing my best at washing my hands, getting my Vitamin C, and ALL THE THINGS. I have a lot going on right now, so getting sick just doesn't fit into the plans. I'm putting self-fulfilling prophecy to the test today. I keep chanting to my self that "I'm not getting sick. I'm not getting sick. I'll be fine. I'm not getting sick."  Here's hoping it works!

Perpectives and perceptions vary...

Last  night my husband and I were watching at episode of Scrubs. It's one of our favorite TV series of all time, so we decided to start it over again from the beginning thanks to Hulu. Anyway, last night's episode was a great example of perception! One of the main characters, JD, has growing envy for another character, Dr. Murdoch, because JD feels Dr. M has it all together. That's his perception of for doctor at least. But as the episode continues, JD realizes that Dr. M is under a lot of stress and can't deal with failure or death. Dr. M has a breakdown and leaves the profession. This was incredibly unexpected since most of the hospital saw Dr. M as the best interning doctor there.  Our perceptions can cause us to be blind to things if we aren't mindfully aware of all the messages being sent.

Semantic Noise in Enriched English 11

My Enriched English 11 class is currently watching the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It takes place in the late 1600s during the Salem Witch Trials. Although it is in English, the sentence structure and organization of words was a little different then compared to now. It causes some semantic noise for students until they get comfortable with the language. We read Of Plymouth Plantation before we start the play to adjust the students to change in the language. It's really interesting to go back and study the progression of English as we use it today.