Best Memory Tool - A Final Thought

This was our final thought for the end of this week. It was presented at our student meeting.


This was our final thought for the end of this week. It was presented at our student meeting.

The importance of taking notes is often overlooked. It’s as if it were an archaic remnant of days gone by, replaced by tablets and cell phones with audio recorders that can record sessions for unlimited playbacks.

As wonderful as those tools are, nothing can replace the taking of good notes. Why? For one thing, after you capture the information you need, retrieving a specific detail later on can be a hassle if you have to fast forward through 37 minutes of lecture to find the point you’ve forgotten. Even transcribing software gives too much information. Important points are captured but they’re buried under a lot of detail that’s not always needed.

 The best notes are those that capture just the important points, briefly and concisely.

 

As an added benefit, the act of hearing something and writing it down is a memory booster that helps train the brain. To take a note, someone must hear it, have an understanding of how it translates to paper and then command the correct body part to make the notation.

Student Note Taking

Of course students especially need to be good note takers. We find at Community Business College that the best student performers tend to be the ones who take the best notes. Instructors share their wisdom and context of the information they are sharing.

Good note taking means students send messages to their future selves of what is important to remember.

 

Takes Notes When Starting A Job

Some new newly hired candidates will go through the first day of orientation and listen attentively to how their jobs are supposed to be done without taking notes. Why? Some believe that if they’re taking notes, it looks like a weakness. Or that it might be rude.

 

Here’s some advice, if you think it might be rude, ask permission first. That not only reinforces with the new boss that you’re about take the information you are about to receive seriously, but it also shows courtesy, a practice that has fallen too much out of favor these days.

 

As to being a weakness, it generally has the opposite effect. It lets an employer know that the new employee is taking the instruction seriously. Watch the boss’ eyes. After seeing something written down, the boss will probably follow up with some more supporting details. Most new employees who have taken notes make stronger first impressions.

Otherwise, the boss might believe that nothing shared is about to be remembered.

 

So, take note – note taking is an excellent way of preserving what you need to know for the future. A better future, after all, is what self-improvement is all about.

 

The animation of this final thought is available on YouTube here - http://youtu.be/9nPrEf4Y5eA

Rain with a 50% Chance of Narcissus

It rained today but the narcissus plants are showing their colors.

The flowers are blooming and making the outside of the medical office classroom smell wonderful. Their blossoms are oasis of white and yellow in a waving sea of green leaves

The flowers were a gift from 5 years ago. We planted them in the Community Business College campus landscaping and they have taken root and multiplied.

They have survived people kicking ties way through the planter, frosts, and heat waves.

These flowers are also know as “paperwhites” and they sure seem to like Modesto soil and weather.

Once they finish blooming, they will give birth to new bulbs. If anyone is interested in getting a couple of them, contact the school’s main office.

The thought that Community Business College is spreading beauty through flowers out in the world the way we spread knowledge is a neat idea. :-)

The Question: "What non-English language will be most useful for my child to know in 20-30 years?"

The question came up today, "What non-English language will be most useful for my child to know in 20-30 years?"

Here's the Community Business College answer:

   The answer to "What non-English language will be most useful for my child to know in 20-30 years?" depends on what your child's goals are. As an intellectual exercise, it is a good idea to pick the first language as one that is similar to the one they already know (e.g.  Spanish or French). Then the next language can be something completely different (e.g. Mandarin, Hebrew, Japanese, Russian, etc.) that uses different characters and grammar rules.

     It’s tempting to say that Mandarin will be a dominant language 20 years from now but I remember people saying that about Russian and the language spoken in India while I was growing up. I even had a teacher who pushed Esperanto. Needles to say, I don’t think we can call that one useful for everyday use.

     If your child is going to learn it, you might want to start learning it as well. It's much easier to learn a new language if you have someone with whom to practice in an everyday setting.

     As far as languages other than English for use in the adult world, it will make a difference where your child plans to live and work.

    For example, our college set up inexpensive online language classes for our graduates with the primary purpose of helping English speakers start to learn Spanish. Having multiple languages improves their employability but for most of them, they plan to stay in California's Central Valley with a large population of Spanish speakers. More details are at http://www.cbcwebcollege.com/LearnALanguage.htm.

     That said, we have had a couple of people who wanted to take Arabic and Japanese. There aren't as many speakers of those languages in this geographic area, but the students chose those languages for personal reasons. That is one of the best motivations for learning a new language. Motivation is an important factor when choosing a language to learn because it’s a skill that requires constant practice.

   If you look at the globalization caused by the Internet, there will always be the need to be able to communicate in other languages, even though the translation software is getting better and better. The key here is to understand the nuance of a language, which means not just learning the mechanics of a language, but keeping the skill fresh with constant usage and practice.

 

Is Cyber Week (Formerly Cyber Monday) The New Normal?

With today marking the official close of “Cyber Week” it’s a good time to reflect on the trend that seems to have invaded and completely taken over the last days of November.

What’s the Deal With “Cyber Monday?”

“Cyber Monday” is a term for the Monday after Thanksgiving with the idea being that many people take two days off from work for Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving Day and the following Friday. That Friday following Thanksgiving has become known as “Black Friday” because stores that may have been losing money and “in the red” all year make so much money with the surge of sales on this day that their books are now “in the black.”

Around the year 2005, online retailers started noticing a surge on online sales on the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday. It made sense because the shopping mood carried over to the first day back at work and people who work with computers were using their work computers to do online shipping.

The day became known as “Cyber-Monday” as the popularity of online shopping increased and became mainstream. The first day back at work after the Thanksgiving holiday has become a holiday of sorts in and of itself. It has since grown into one of the biggest shopping days of the year. In fact, the reports are that Cyber Monday 2012 has been the best CyberMonday ever in terms of dollars spent on goods purchased.

Since most people shop online the first week after Thanksgiving, it has now become "CyberWeek." A lot of people do this at work (whether the boss is watching or not).

Even Community Business College decided to pitch in by offering 26% off the tuition of all its classes. This will last all week and be the school's CyberWeek 2012 deal.

The “week” in Cyber Week is only 5 days, of course. Monday through Friday based around the fact that most office workers only work those days of the week.

Cyber-Week is being broken down into its component days.

One group is promoting “Small Business Saturday.” Small Business Saturday is supposed to encourage holiday shoppers to patronize local “real” brick and mortar businesses with an emphasis on the small business shops.

There’s “Green Tuesday,” which is supposed to inspire consumers to make thoughtful, purposeful, environmentally minded shopping choices.

Sofa Sunday is named for the place and time where many people shop with their iPads.

Push Back

It's gotten so exreme that some brave retailers are now declaring Thanksgiving Day to be fair game and have started calling it “Black Thursday” with stores opening during various times on Thanksgiving Day in order to get the early, early crowds. Is that taking things too far? Some think so. As with so many things now, there are always people who try to counter the trends.

This push back is taking different forms.

Landing on the same day as Green Tuesday (there are only so many days in the week from which to choose) is Giving Tuesday, an event designed to encourage people to donate to worthy causes.

And even Buy Nothing Day on the Friday after Thanksgiving being championed by a Canadian activist group where instead of buying things, people are encouraged to not buy anything.

Still, with more tools at hand than ever before, savvy shoppers can get good deals online all the way through the end of November now before the big Christmas rush.

What can defeat this spreading of extreme shopping?

Technology might provide the answer with making stores adapt every day to “Black Friday” deals.

There are, of course, the daily deal websites such as Groupon and LivingSocial and SweetJack. They allow individual retailers to offer more specialized deals every day.

And now smartphones are getting into the act. There are now apps that allow you to price compare on items while you are in the store. That means if you find something you like in the local department store, you can search to see if it’s cheaper on Amazon or even down the street. But stores are getting wise to it and have started sending the ability to send coupons immediately to your smartphone to keep you in the store.

Decide.com 

The website Decide.com is all about leveraging data and technology to help shoppers predict and get the best deals. It uses a text mining algorithms across the world web to enable shoppers to get the best deals on their items possible.



Decide.com



They offer “Decide Score” which is a product rating system. It incorporates millions of user and expert reviews, recency of reviews, and scores from previous models to bring you the most data-driven, unbiased and useful product recommendations.

Decide advises you to buy or wait based on our proprietary price and model predictions. Our price predictions are right 77% of the time, and when they are we save you $101 per product on average.

Someday you may never have to worry about paying a price only to find it cheaper somewhere else at a later time. Price predictions help you pull the trigger on a sale with confidence and save money. Decides prediction algorithms utilize billions of observed price movements and over 40 distinct factors. Another feature allows you set up sales alerts for your future product purchase to be in the know about price changes, rumors and product releases.

So while all the competition is for getting your shopping dollars on Black Friday, CyberMonday and the holiday shopping seasons that follows, maybe in the near future we’ll see these types of deals all year round. Would you really miss getting up at 4 AM on the Friday after Thanksgiving to go stand in long, cold lines? And on the following Monday, you could not worry about missing a great deal while the boss peers over your should to see if you’re working or shopping.

A Day To Remember - Veterans Day

Today is a day for recognizing of military veterans. Technically, of course, yesterday was Veterans Day – November 11th. Today, being a Monday, allows the holiday to be included in a three-day weekend and so some observances are moved to Monday from Sunday.

It’s good for us to remember the meaning of the holiday and to recognize the sacrifices that have been made by a few for the good of all. Veterans day, formerly known as Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day (or even Poppy Day), is an excellent opportunity to do that.
The courageous men and women and their families serving our country take time out of their lives to serve us and make sacrifices every day.
With parades and memorials at cemeteries and even the retiring of old flags, there are a lot of activities available for those interested in conducting observances of the day.

Community Business College tries to do its part to help veterans and current service members. The school participates in the “Thank You For Your Family’s Service” scholarship and the Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA), to help eligible military-related students cover the costs of attending training and job placement assistance programs.

As part of its military friendly practices, Community Business College is also currently offering veterans and military-related job seekers a free “Job Search Tool Kit” which includes package a professional resume review, a job search guide, and a one-month world language class, where students can learn any one of 15 languages online.

Community Business College
Military Friendly School

For its efforts, the school, along with the 1,738 other colleges, universities and trade schools bade this year’s Military Friendly Schools’ list as determined by G.I. Jobs Magazine.

When remembering those who served and still serve today, we also mustn’t forget military families. Families are the rock upon which military members depend. It’s important to remember that families of military members sometimes have more difficult social challenges than even the military members themselves.

Military life can be very disruptive. Many people oftentimes overlook the sacrifices military spouses and their children make and the important role they play in the defense of our country.

Being a military kid often means you move from school to school in different parts of the world as you follow your military parent’s new station assignments.

It’s a sacrifice that most families are willing to make because the rewards of serving your country outweigh the downsides, but it’s an overlooked part of military life.


Ways to Observe Veterans Day

The first way to observe Veterans Day is to not forget what Veterans Day is really about. It’s not, as some stores may want us to think, a warm up for Black Friday shopping. It’s a holiday dedicated to honoring armed service veterans.

Some people like to make a family tradition of attending a memorial service or parade or sending a package to a member serving overseas. Some will read a different book written by a veteran each Veterans Day so as to remember those who didn’t make it home and those that did.

Fly the Flag
Veterans Day is a good day to put a flag up the flagpole. It's a classic gesture and one that still works. Seeing the U.S. flag waving in the breeze in the front of a home provides a constant reminder of the day and its importance.
Say “Thanks”

Despite a recent NBC article about some veterans and soldiers who feel awkward about being thanked, most active duty service members and veterans like to be thanked for their efforts. As long as the thanks are sincere and not too ostentatious, veterans and military service members accept the thanks courteously.

A good approach is to mention that you’re thanking the veteran and all those who served.


Send a Care Package

People who are currently serving overseas sometimes feel forgotten by the folks at home. Even with today's high-tech communications devices, the distances involved in deployments can bring a sense of isolation and loneliness. They enjoy receiving a care package of little items from the states. They also really enjoy receiving letters and notes.

When the school sends care packages to the troops, the responses are always warm and appreciative but the items that really stand out are the cards and letters.

The letters don’t have to be long but they should be personal. Describing yourself and where you live is a good start. Including a heartfelt word about why you’re writing is good and letting the recipients know you’re thinking about them is a good subject to include in the letter.

If you’re not sure where to send the care packages, you can use “Any Soldier.” Any Soldier is a military support group that receives specific requests from service members for items to be sent. The requrests are usually unit leaders on behalf of their squads who describe which items are missed from home the most or what items are in short supply (for example, baby wipes are popular where there’s lots of sand that needs to be cleaned out every day).
Visit the website www.anysoldier.com for more details.

By the way, the Post Office will no longer deliver packages addressed litterally to “any soldier” so you should get the name and correct delivery address of your intnded recipient.

Another option is to visit your local chapter of Blue Star Moms. Blue Star Mom groups are support groups for people who have children in the military.


You can also ask local churches and other places of worship, who usually know of families who have someone serving overseas.

A big advantage to using an already established group is they can also tell you what is possible to send and what is not. When putting together items to send, you have to keep in mind not only postal regulations (which have gotten more restrictive over the years) but also to be sensitive to the rules of the respective host countries.

Support Military Families Stationed Overseas
Community Business College students and staff also send expired grocery coupons to overseas military families. The coupons don’t have to be expired but a lot of coupon cutters end up with leftovers they don't use and would otherwise just throw them away. Due to a special rule, military families overseas are allowed to use the coupons at base commissaries for up to 6 months after their printed expiration date. Sending a few over with a note of appreciation is a great way to brighten someone's day.

It’s through efforts like these that we can remember the fallen and those who gave up portions of their lives to serve their country.

Happy Veterans Day.

Colds and Flu at School - Prevention

It’s the time of year we dread at Community Business College – the onset of cold and flu season.

We try everything we can to avoid getting and spreading colds: hand sanitizers stationed strategically around the campus, sanitizing facial tissues in each classroom, Lysol used to clean fixtures. But still it happens. Someone will catch a cold and then it spreads.

What to do?

Is the winter cold secret cure right in our pantries? Some say apple cider vinegar is the key to staying healthy and shortening the lengths of a cold or flu. One of our instructors, who teaches the customer service classes, suggests gargling with two-teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water. It can be a quick way to lessen a sore throat. She says drinking the mix every day is even healthier and mixing some honey in it makes it taste a lot better.


Can it be that simple? Anecdotally, people have found that while apple cider vinegar might not be a miracle cure that completely eliminates all symptoms, it can be a good method to lessen some of the symptoms. And a dose a day may contribute to preventing colds in the first place.

    The Recipe:

        The 1 – 2 – 3 Apple Cider Vinegar Drink
        1 cup of warm water
        2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar (unfiltered if possible)
        3 teaspoons of honey.
        Stir all ingredients together until honey is completely dissolved.
               Optional: a shot of lemon juice to give it a fresh flavor.


The Theory

The goal of drinking apple cider vinegar is to fight off infection. The theory is the vinegar does this by simply keeping fluids where they belong: in your body’s cells, not in bacteria.

The body becomes more alkaline during a cold and the vinegar will help to re-balance the body’s acid level. Viruses don’t care much for the body’s normal acidic pH level and acidic ingredients can help with that.


Digestion Boost

Good digestion leads to good health. Two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar added to a glass of water at each meal is supposed to be helpful in maintaining the health of your digestive tract, and in turn, the all-around health of your body.


By eating foods that are sources of potassium, such as fruit, berries, edible leaves, broccoli, edible roots, and honey, and apple cider vinegar the body can maintain cardiovascular and bone health. Potassium is also good for the body enzymes required to have a strong metabolism.


Circulation Is Important Too

People with improved circulation report better mental acuity and clearer thinking.

Apple cider vinegar might assist with that. Being high in potassium, it keeps the soft tissues of the body supple and flexible. That’s a good thing because flexible circulatory systems keep the blood flowing and gives the body and brain all the oxygen they need to operate at peak efficiency.

The old axiom that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is a good way to approach this cold and flu season.

Apple cider vinegar may not be a cure all, but, (dare we say it?) it is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Dec/Jan Solar Pro Magazine Arrived Today

We just received our shipment of the December/January 2013 issue of SolarPro magazine. This magazine is one of the main publications in the solar industry.

The magazine comes out every couple of months and has articles on new technologies, new laws and what's been happening the world of solar and photovoltaics.


SolarPro Magazine



Sure, interviews with members of the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection may not sound like an exciting read to a lot of people, but if you're in the industry, it's good to keep up with what's going on.

That's why Community Business College does things like handing out free magazines and subscriptions to its students and graduates.

One of the most important things we teach in all of our classes at Community Business College is to practice lifelong learning. There's always more to learn in an industry because, now more than ever, there are technological and procedural advances in every aspect of work. From solar panel installation rules to new ICD-10 coding for medical billing and coding to updated Microsoft Office software, those who don't keep up will be left behind.

If you're interested in receiving a free copy of the latest issue of SolarPro magazine, stop by the school's admission office and just ask for one at the front desk.