Showing posts with label Work Period. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work Period. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Work Period...
Today Mr. Max was gone... So we had a work period. The sub we had was a very nice lady and she told Mr. Max that we actually worked. Yay us! We were to go to a website called 'seeingstatistics.com' and teach ourselves. Most took notes of the website to keep it fresh in our minds. We had homework due, but the due date was moved to the fifteenth (today)... Overall it was a great day and it was nice to have a period to just work.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Max's Absence - Day 2
I dont really know what to post for today I'll just try and add some useful tips on being able to stay focused for our work periods. I found these tips on http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/self/1130. I think that they can be very useful if really taken seriously. Everyone needs help focusing some times I know I do.
1. Witness your thoughts. No one can stop thinking entirely; it is impossible. If you start trying not to think, you only end up thinking about how to stop thinking! What you can do, however, is to withdraw from your thoughts and become more of an objective spectator.
2. Picture your mind as a blank canvas or a dark sky. Allow your thoughts to come and go, but resist the urge to follow each one. Your brain will eventually slow down and you will feel less pressured.
3. Count. If you find it difficult to let go of your thoughts, try counting slowly as you breathe. Watch your thoughts and try to resist following them. Turn your attention to the count as you breathe out.
4. Pay active attention. As you work and think, try to keep your attention on the task at hand, Be strict with yourself, and each time your mind wanders, return it to the task. As you keep refocusing your attention, your “mind stillness” will improve.
5. Still your body. One sign of fragmented attention is fragmented movement. For example, when you are at the theatre, it is easy to tell if others around you are fully attentive to the performance. People who sniff and sigh, move their heads this away and that, and wiggle in their seats are having some difficulty concentrating. Rapt attention is usually accompanied by still body posture.
6. Find a comfortable position and don’t allow yourself to move. Concentrate on what you are doing or watching, drawing your attention away from physical distractions, and focus your thoughts on your task. After a while, you will notice that you fidget less and feel less physical discomfort. You are now channeled into mental exertion.
7. Interest your mind. Try to find interest in projects to help you concentrate. Taking up a new hobby can be a tremendous help. You should also try to find something interesting even in the dullest chore. If you are at a gathering, find someone and start a conversation. Be inquisitive and you might discover you have similar interests.
8. Open the mind. Just as strength, stamina, and flexibility must be incorporated in your physical routine, the mind needs new and absorbing challenges to give it a change from its everyday journey. Notice something new on the same way home that you might not have noticed before. Buy a magazine on a subject you normally wouldn’t look at, read it, and open yourself to new possibilities.
1. Witness your thoughts. No one can stop thinking entirely; it is impossible. If you start trying not to think, you only end up thinking about how to stop thinking! What you can do, however, is to withdraw from your thoughts and become more of an objective spectator.
2. Picture your mind as a blank canvas or a dark sky. Allow your thoughts to come and go, but resist the urge to follow each one. Your brain will eventually slow down and you will feel less pressured.
3. Count. If you find it difficult to let go of your thoughts, try counting slowly as you breathe. Watch your thoughts and try to resist following them. Turn your attention to the count as you breathe out.
4. Pay active attention. As you work and think, try to keep your attention on the task at hand, Be strict with yourself, and each time your mind wanders, return it to the task. As you keep refocusing your attention, your “mind stillness” will improve.
5. Still your body. One sign of fragmented attention is fragmented movement. For example, when you are at the theatre, it is easy to tell if others around you are fully attentive to the performance. People who sniff and sigh, move their heads this away and that, and wiggle in their seats are having some difficulty concentrating. Rapt attention is usually accompanied by still body posture.
6. Find a comfortable position and don’t allow yourself to move. Concentrate on what you are doing or watching, drawing your attention away from physical distractions, and focus your thoughts on your task. After a while, you will notice that you fidget less and feel less physical discomfort. You are now channeled into mental exertion.
7. Interest your mind. Try to find interest in projects to help you concentrate. Taking up a new hobby can be a tremendous help. You should also try to find something interesting even in the dullest chore. If you are at a gathering, find someone and start a conversation. Be inquisitive and you might discover you have similar interests.
8. Open the mind. Just as strength, stamina, and flexibility must be incorporated in your physical routine, the mind needs new and absorbing challenges to give it a change from its everyday journey. Notice something new on the same way home that you might not have noticed before. Buy a magazine on a subject you normally wouldn’t look at, read it, and open yourself to new possibilities.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
"brio" - Enthusiastic vigor; vivacity; liveliness; spirit.
Today Mr. Max let us use the block as a work period or we could go and see the presentation, on world hunger and war in Uganda, in the multi purpose room.
I had seen the presentation already this morning but I knew that the probability of me actually doing any work this block was less than 1/8th so I went to the presentation again.
The presentation was about world hunger and the war in northern Uganda, in the presentation we were told things like:
I had seen the presentation already this morning but I knew that the probability of me actually doing any work this block was less than 1/8th so I went to the presentation again.
The presentation was about world hunger and the war in northern Uganda, in the presentation we were told things like:
- Every 3 seconds a child dies due to extreme poverty
- 800 million people go to bed hungry each night
- 1.2 billion people live on less than $ 1.00 per day
- $ 13 million could help to serve the basic needs of impoverished people across the globe (that's less than is spent on pet food yearly)
- It has been proposed that world hunger could be cut in half by 2015, but hunger rates are increasing
- The Canadian Food Grains Bank, now "End Hunger", dates back almost 500 years
- The Canada Government matches all money raised towards ending world hunger at a 4:1 ratio with a
$ 16 million limit, soon to be raised to a $ 20 million limit - 50 % of the world gets its livelihood from agriculture
- The population of Uganda is 28,816,000 Million people who speak 43 different languages
- 90 % of food consumed in northern Uganda is provided by humanitarian organizations
- The total Gross Domestic Product income is $ 45.97 billion yearly
- Polygamy is a common practice
- English is the official language but 62 % of people do not speak or write it
As well as many other interesting facts about Uganda and World Hunger. At the end of the presentation we were given the opportunity to ask questions and view pamphlets. We were also given other resources to look at:
http://www.micahchallenge.org/
http://www.foodgrainsbank.ca/
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/
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