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Whether you are scrambling to meet work deadlines from home or if your work has completely come to a stop, this lockdown has turned everyones life topsy turvy, and its not clear when this new way of living and social distancing will end and when it will truly be safe to live a normal life. This can be very demotivating. In fact, downright depressing. Despite all these worries and obstacles, this is actually a marvelous time for reflection, self-growth and family bonding, according to Sayeda Habib, life coach and author. Recently, You! asked her to share a bit about her personal story and in particular, detail some of the blessings this unusual situation is bringing into our lives

You! Tell us a little about yourself...

Sayeda Habib: Ive been empowering my clients through life coaching for over a decade. I have extensive training from reputed institutions in the United Kingdom and hold the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential issued by the International Coach Federation. I am a Master Practitioner of NLP, and have trained in other interventions including Time Line Therapy, and hypnotherapy, and have been featured on radio and television in the United Kingdom, Pakistan and UAE. I am also the author of Discover the Best in You! Life Coaching for Muslims (Kube publishing 2012), the first self-help coaching book written specifically for the Muslim community.

You! What made you gravitate towards this field of work?

SH: I feel like coaching chose me, rather than the other way around; what I mean is that it happened quite organically. I had my own coach at first, and from the process, I discovered that what I truly want to do is engage myself in a profession that makes a difference to others. During this time, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend some self-development conferences as well. It was at one such conference, that the turning point happened. I attended an introduction to life coaching. The teacher set up a practice, where the participants got to coach each other. It so happened that the group was an odd number, so I got to coach the teacher. We worked together for about 20 minutes, after which he told me that youre a natural. That was a turning point. I began thinking about coaching, and I already believed in it, since I had my own coach. One thing led to another, and I started my training the following year. 15 years later, I havent looked back.

You! Any tips for our readers who are suffering from depression in this lockdown period?

SH: One of the easiest things is a bit of physical activity. Start off little with online yoga videos or take a walk in your garden if you have one: just something to get moving. One key thing to remember is that the mind and body is one system, and physical movement can sometimes be a simple key that shifts everything. Talk to everyone in the house, and choose about 30 mins - or an hour to put away the phones, and just talk. Perhaps cook together, share old photos, do something to connect. Make this a time to remember, and look fondly on.

You! What state of mind does the current situation put you in?

SH: Our state of mind is something that can shift from moment to moment. The first few days were very difficult for me, along with everyone else. Change is unsettling for anyone. However, I then began to shift my mindset. I started focusing on the good things that are happening all around us. We are all getting the opportunity to spend more time with family, to reflect, and to rethink what we want to spend our time on. Our mindset has a lot to do with how productive we are. The better we feel, the more productive we are. Remember, there will always be things out of our control, and if we fixate on that, we will feel out of control. Today, theres an opportunity to re-center and to focus on the blessings we do have and build from there.

You! What are some of these blessings?

SH: These blessings include time to slow down, get pending things done, the chance to connect. Remember physical distancing doesnt mean emotional distancing. One huge blessing is all this technology we now have. Connect with friends and family who are far away. And when you connect, talk about the good things that are happening, catch up take the focus to something positive. Once things settle down, there are plenty of opportunities. The first big one is to rethink our priorities. Spend some time reflecting on where youve been spending your time, with whom. Ask yourself: would I still want to spend my time on these things a year from now or do I want a change? Now is the time to reflect on this so when things actually start up again, you have your new direction and possibly a new plan.

You! Any proactive tips for readers who are feeling low?

SH: A couple of simple tips. Make a small schedule for yourself, and focus on one or two things that you can do even at home. Think about those pending things that you want to finish up, now you have the time to complete it and each time you complete a task, cross it off the list. Believe me, this feels amazing. Next, aim to get in some physical activity which gets the feel-good chemicals going. Third, spend some time with whoever is at home, just playing a game, or doing something enjoyable. Small bits of quality time are wonderful.

You! Do you have any final words of advice for our readers?

SH: So many people have lost their wages, their livelihoods overnight. If you have a roof over your head, have your basic needs met, and all your loved ones are safe, you are in a great position. Lets take time to shift our focus towards all that we have, even today. Focusing on our blessings encourages us to give back and do all the good that we can. Giving back not only is contribution, it feels amazing as well. This is the way we can nurture ourselves, others, and our environment towards something more beautiful.

T. U. Dawood is CEO of 786

Investments Ltd., President of Dawood Global Foundation, and sits on the boards of Pakistan State Oil and Pakistan Refinery Ltd.

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Blessings from the lockdown - The News International

When thinking about setting goals the starting point is always the end, the destination you want to reach.

Lets imagine for the moment, its 90 days into the future and you were looking back over those 90 days, and you had achieved 5 specific goals you wanted to achieve.

Coming from this viewpoint gets you crystal clear about the end goal or outcome you want.

It also gives you a clear deadline for achieving the goals.

This way of looking at goal setting makes it more powerful because the goals are specific and have a deadline.

Now, goal setting is a powerful capability to develop but many people struggle with goal setting because they dont have the most important component.

Measurable goals.

Setting goals without a measurement or a deadline attached to it is just make believe.

There is no track to follow.

No clear destination to be reached.

And no deadline to reach it in.

As a business coach I help time poor female small business owners free up more of their time and achieve their goals by helping them set both long-term measurable goals and short-term measurable goals.

This helps them free up 100 hours every quarter and be way more productive.

They set long-term goals are usually three years into the future.

These long-term goals are supported by specific short-term 90-day goals.

What Ive realised through coaching these clients, and through twenty years of business experience is that measurable goals matter.

In fact, they are essential and I would say the only way to set goals.

Working towards, and achieving, measurable goals over a specific period of time builds confidence and amplifies motivation.

The goals we set must be measurable for us to intellectually and emotionally engage with achieving the goal.

Measurable goals means that you clearly identify exactly what it is you want to achieve so you emotionally and intellectually engage with the outcome of your goal.

It means breaking the goal down into specific, measurable elements that can be tracked.

Every goal must be based on achieving a specific number or event by a specific date in the future.

Goals such as wanting to lose weight, get healthy, make more money or grow your business are too generic.

There is nothing to really focus your attention on.

You wont get excited about achieving the goal and it wont feel big enough to take action on moving forward.

Having non-specific goals means you have no way of knowing when youve achieved the goal.

Or how far away from achieving it you are.

Part of the power of having measurable goals is that you know when youve reached your destination.

You can celebrate your achievement which builds confidence and motivation.

To maximise your chance of achieving your goals in business and life, set measurable goals.

That measurement must be a number or an event.

To bring measurable goals to life, here are a few examples of measurable goals that my coaching clients have used in the past.

Below are a few examples of number based measurable goals:

I will free up 30 hours of time in the next 30 days.

Increase my revenue by 20% in the next 6 months.

Grow my email list by 500 by June 30.

Increase my YouTube subscribers to 5,000 by July 1.

Lose one stone by May 30.

Here are a few examples of event based measurable goals:

I will speak to five groups of people in the next 30 days

Run 5k in under 30 minutes

Visit Bali in 2020

Start my new business by end September

Open my second yoga studio by October 1

You create your next measurable goal by simply getting started.

If you are new to setting measurable goals start with something specific but achievable to build your goal setting muscles.

Choose something exciting but realistically achievable and choose a short time period such as 21 days or 30 days.

Write down your goal and tell people that are important to you what your goal is so they can cheer you on, or hold you accountable.

Once youve achieved that goal, celebrate and start setting bigger goals.

You can use the SMART goals setting process to help you.

If you are a regular goal setter the key with measurable goals is to choose something that is really exciting but also scares you.

Pick five measurable goals you want to achieve in the next 90 days and then write down the first step to take for each of them.

Tracking your progress towards your goal achievement is essential to build confident, momentum and motivation.

Some people find it valuable to track their progress, monthly, weekly and even daily.

But there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it.

Many people struggle with goals because they measure forwards, which is the wrong way to do it.

When you measure forwards, goals can feel far away and out of reach.

If youre not making the progress you want you may give up, question your capabilities and start getting down on yourself.

The right way to start tracking goals is to measure backwards, from where you started.

Begin with the end in mind Stephen Covey

Let me give you an example to represent what I mean.

One of my clients had a goal to get to 5k YouTube subscribers in 6 months.

She started off very slow as this was a new capability and platform to master.

The first month only saw 300 subscribers.

In the second month her subscribers only grew by a further 200, so 500 subscribers in 2 months.

She had two options.

Get really disappointed and frustrated with her progress because she was so far away from her target of 5k subscribers.

Or, celebrate her progress because she has 500 more subscribers than she did when she started.

She chose to follow the second route and celebrate what she achieved.

This gave her the confidence, commitment and belief that she could hit her goal of 5k in that six-month period, which she did.

Always measure your progress, and always measure backwards.

If you are just starting with goal setting or want to improve your goal setting, then measurable goals are the answer.

This article originally appeared on the Lucemi Consulting blog.

Mark Pettit is a business coach and the Founder of business coaching company Lucemi Consulting. He helps time poor female small business owners free up 100 hours of their time and increase their revenue by doing more of what they love to do and are best at.

Enjoyed this article? Read more tips and strategies on goal setting, time management and productivity on my time multiplier blog.

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The Power of Setting Measurable Goals - Thrive Global

5 RINGS: key contributor with dynasty programs Merritt Island in 1970s and Cocoa in 2000s During his 50 years coaching high school football in Brevard County Coach Gerald Hodgin earned more state championship rings than any other Space Coast football coach in history.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA During his 50 years coaching high school football in Brevard County Coach Gerald Hodgin earned more state championship rings than any other Space Coast football coach in history.

He was a key contributor on five state championship teams with dynasty programs Merritt Island during the 1970s and Cocoa in the 2000s.

Hodgin was born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1942, and graduated from Butler High School in Huntsville, Alabama where he played linebacker and guard on the football team and was on the track and field team.

Hodgin then attended Middle Tennesee State on a football scholarship. During his freshman year, he suffered a serious knee injury that ended his playing career.

He then attended Florence State, now the University of North Alabama, where he graduated in 1963.

Hodgin began teaching and coaching football, basketball, track and golf at Cullman High School in Alabama in 1964.

After a year at Cullman, Hodgin and his wife, Elke, moved on to Boaz High School for three years and then to New Hope High School for another three years.

The worlds attention was riveted on Brevard County when the Hodgin family first arrived in 1969 to check out a job opening for a football coaching and teaching job at Merritt Island High School.

When we got to Merritt Island for the first time to meet coach (Eddie) Feeley, we didnt have enough money to stay in a hotel and parked by the Indian River for the night, said Elke.

During the night, Gerald decided to fish off the bank and caught a huge bass and said, Honey I think were home!

Story continued below>>>

STONG BOND

During Hodgins first year at Merritt Island in 1969 he was the JV football coach, and in 1970, became the offensive line coach for Feeleys powerhouse varsity squad.

The rest, as they say, is history as the Mustangs racked-up state championships in 1972, 1978 and 1979 with Hodgin leading the defense as the coordinator.

Hodgin said among the highlights for him was spending Sundays with fellow coaches Eddie Feeley, Gerald Odom, Lee Mace, Dwight Thomas, Travis Akin, Joe Pribil and Jim Casper going over game plans along with all the special life long bonds he has made with his adoring players.

I first met coach Hodgin during my sophomore year at Merritt Island, said Jimmy Black, quarterback of the 1972 state champion Mustangs and Florida State standout.

He was the head coach of the JV team and one of the first things you learned about coach was when he told you to do something you had better do it now! Discipline was very important to him and he passed this along to his players. The bond the players had with all our coaches still is strong to this day, almost 50 years later. I would like to thank coach Hodgin for the valuable life lessons he taught me in high school and am proud to call him my friend.

When Gerald Odom became the head coach at Cocoa High School in 2000 Hodgin joined his staff as the defensive coordinator and stayed on when John Wilkinson took over in 2004 and picked up two more state title rings in the process.

During his career, Hodgin also coached the Mustang baseball team for 12 seasons, recording 263 victories, five conference titles, four district championships, three regional titles, one sectional crown and a state appearance.

Hodge put his life and soul into whatever he coached, said former Merritt Island High School principal Hank Smith.

THE 2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will take place at the Cocoa Beach Country Club on a date to be announced soon.

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT the 2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME, call 321-323-4460 or 321-615-8111 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com

CLICK HERE TO SEE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced an impressive array of outstanding individuals to be inducted into the 2020 Class of the Hall of Fame.

The 2020 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and Sports Awards will be held Friday, May 8 at the Cocoa Beach Country Club.

The festivities include a meet and greet with the areas sports royalty beginning at 6 p.m., and the dinner and induction proceeding will start at 6:45 p.m. and includes compelling video tributes of each of the inductees.

The 2020 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction event, and the 2020 High School Breakfast of Champions recognition awards, are sponsored by Health First, Erdman Automotive, All Points, Clear Choice Health Care, Savings Safari, Friday Night Locker Room and Rock Paper Simple.

The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame includes an impressive array of outstanding individuals to be inducted into the 2020 Class of the Hall of Fame.

Dozens of nominees were considered in four categories including professional sports, college sports, high school sports and amateur sports.

Special honorary recognition will also be bestowed upon individuals and teams that have made significant contributions to sports on the Space Coast.

Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and has so far inducted more than 160 of Brevard Countys most outstanding athletes, coaches and sports personalities.

Serving on the committee are Space Coast Daily President & Publisher Tom Palermo, Vice President Giles Malone, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Jim Palermo, Managing Editor Zach Clark, the Friday Night Locker Rooms Steve Wilson and Orville Susong, former Health First COO Larry Garrison and Amateur Athletic Union Vice President Rusty Buchanan.

The list of inductees for 2020 induction include athletes and coaches everybody knows and some that may have been forgotten with the passing of time, said Tom Palermo.

FOR INFORMATION about the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame, or to make a reservation, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-615-8111.

SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Tim Wakefield talks about his induction into the first class of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.

SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Jamel Dean, Football; Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Wrestling; Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Football; Mark Lake, Skateboarding; Juwaan Taylor, Football

COLLEGE CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Derek Hamm, Football; Paulette King, Basketball; Dylan Lewis, Soccer; Melanie Murphy, Softball

PREP CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Lexy Denaburg, Volleyball; Apryl Bigham Nickson, Swimming; Andi Sellers, Soccer

AMATEUR/RECREATION CATEGORY INDUCTEE: Peter Blount, Track & Field; Karina Villegas, Sled Hockey; Caylor Williams, Wrestling

COACHING CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Sean Ballard, Wrestling; Doug Butler, Cross County and Track; Aubin Goporo, Basketball; Gerald Hodgin, Football; Bill Sinclair, Softball; Don Smith, Basketball

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT INDUCTEE: Loren McClanahan

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT INDUCTEE: Clint Hurdle

SPORTS OFFICIAL INDUCTEES: Ted Ruta

SPORTS JOURNALISM INDUCTEES: Steve Vaughn

SPORTS AMBASSADOR AWARD INDUCTEE: Congressman Bill Posey

CHALLENGER AWARDS INDUCTEES: Brevard Special Olympics

TEAM OF THE YEAR: 2019 Satellite High Cross Country

LEGACY CHAMPIONS: TBA

SPECIAL TRIBUTE: TBA

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS

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Gerald Hodgin Won More State Title Rings Than Any Other Space Coast Football Coach in History | - SpaceCoastDaily.com

SEOUL -- South Korean companies advertise products all over the world, and have countless K-pop stars, actors and models to choose from. In Vietnam, however, the face of a host of Korean products -- from TVs to milk -- is a bald 61-year-old man.

Park Hang-seo's smiling image is ubiquitous -- on posters tempting Vietnamese consumers to buy Samsung televisions or kimchi, South Korea's national dish, and on packets of food such as "Seoul Hot Dogs." Dairy companies have also featured his face, as has Shinhan Bank, a leading South Korean financial institution. "If the family is the anchor to our life, then finance is a launcher," said Park when the Shinhan partnership was unveiled.

Park is accustomed to saying the right things for his sponsors, but his success is based on his appointment as head coach of the Vietnamese national soccer team in 2017. His soccer career at home had been solid but unremarkable, and the appointment attracted little attention at the time in either country. In all walks of life, however, timing is everything.

Park's lucky break was that he found himself working in Vietnam just as relations with South Korea were becoming closer than ever before. The relationship had been frosty for decades, mainly because of Vietnamese resentment of South Korea's role as a U.S. ally in the Vietnam War. These days, however, it is striking how two countries that are 2,000 km apart get on so well.

On the evening of Jan. 29, for example -- a random midweek evening before the spread of novel coronavirus plunged the world into chaos and suspended most travel -- no fewer than 11 flights left the Vietnamese city of Danang for South Korea. For anyone who has spent time in the city, on Vietnam's east coast, this is not a surprise. Danang's famous shoreline was called "China beach" by the thousands of American soldiers that landed there during the Vietnam War, but these days it is a favorite haunt for South Korean tourists, 3.48 million of whom visited the Southeast Asian nation in 2018.

Before the tourists came the businessmen. The two countries signed a trade agreement in 2015, and by 2017 bilateral trade between them had reached $63.9 billion. Almost a quarter of that was generated by Samsung, which is Vietnam's largest single foreign investor, with eight factories and a research and development center in the country.

Other South Korean investors include LG Electronics, Kumho Asiana Group, Hyosung, Lotte Group and the retail giant CJ Group. As billions of dollars of South Korean investment splashes around, it is unsurprising that companies have focused on finding a face that can connect corporate investors with Vietnamese consumers.

For this, Park is perfect. He is well-known back in his homeland, but is a much bigger name in Southeast Asia. In less than three years in charge of the Vietnamese national team he has taken it to the final of the 2018 Asia under-23 championship, won a Southeast Asian regional title in the same year (only the second victory for Vietnam) and reached the last eight of the 2019 Asian Cup. The team is currently well-placed in the early stages of the qualification process for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with hopes high that it can reach the final stages for the first time.

These exploits have been greeted with rapture by fans, who have taken to the streets in their hundreds of thousands to watch Vietnam's international games on big public screens -- eerily reminiscent of the scenes during the 2002 World Cup, when South Koreans fans did the same thing. Park was part of the South Korean coaching staff for that tournament, held in South Korea and Japan.

But it is not just Park's success on the soccer field that has fueled his success as a marketing icon. His love for Vietnam appears genuine, and is much appreciated by the Vietnamese. "They have a spirit which only they have," Park once said. His management style, dubbed "Papa Leadership," is hugely popular. It includes giving up his business-class seating on international flights to injured players, and sometimes massaging their feet.

In South Korea, home to countless Vietnamese noodle restaurants, there is huge interest in Park's Southeast Asian exploits. In December 2018, an estimated 2.8 million South Koreans watched on television as Vietnam played Malaysia in the first round of the final of the Southeast Asian championship, drawing 2:2. (Vietnam won the second round 1-0 a few days later, taking the trophy 3-2 on aggregate.) The next month, thousands of people from Park's hometown of Sancheong took to the streets to cheer Vietnam in an Asian Cup quarterfinal against Japan, though it ended in defeat.

As South Korean investment in Vietnam grows, there will be a continuing need for a well-known marketing face, which means more commercial work for Park, at least so long as good results continue to flow. In January, the Vietnam team had its first setback under Park, failing to get past the group stage at the 2020 Asia under-23 championship.

It remains to be seen how the manager will react to that reverse, but the real test will be the World Cup qualification process. Vietnam has never appeared at the tournament, but was leading its group in the second stage of qualification when the process was suspended because of the coronavirus.

Park has been busy in Hanoi, analyzing previous games and conducting online strategy sessions. On March 26, he donated $5,000 to Vietnam's efforts to contain the virus.

"The amount is small," said Park in Hanoi, "but I hope it can directly help people who are affected to overcome their difficulties. I am ready to help Vietnam in any way I can."

There is still a long way to go. But if Park can somehow manage a place at the next World Cup, sports fans and businesspeople will be celebrating together, in South Korea as well as Vietnam.

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In Vietnam, the face of South Korea is a sprightly sports coach - Nikkei Asian Review

The East-West approaches

According to a Zen Master story, a martial arts student approached and declared to the teacher his desire to learn the code. How long would it take? The teacher replied: Ten years.

The student, a bit impatient remarked: But I want to master it faster than that, I will work very hard, practise ten or more hours a day if necessary. How long would it then take? The teacher replied: Twenty years.

Real learning is transformative and it changes subjects as people, deep inside their hearts and minds. The reason why the Pali word Cittawhich translates as heart or mindis so important in considering a Buddhist approach to learning.

Such an approach combines the modern cognitivethe knowledge and intellectual perspective with the affectivethe emotional and attitudinal engagement. No such contradiction exists in Buddhist thinking which is holistic and complete.

Logic, mind, and reason have predominance over emotions in western thinking since the European Enlightenment. The Western method of coaching mostly follows models based on proven theories in psychology, psychotherapy, behavioural sciences, and more. The western model is typically a question-answer model where the questions are asked by the coach and the protege tries to find the answers. Its what you learn after you know it all that counts, as famously expounded by Harry S Truman.

The Buddha was perhaps the original post-modernist whose teachings placed optimum emphasis on both the heart and the mind, thereby laying the foundation for an integrated and holistic perspective.

The Indian executive mindset is comfortable with the idea of duality and looks at the world as shades of grey unlike a western binary view derived from a formal contractual relationship based on logical questioning. The coaching that works therefore in India is one that understands and incorporates a nurturing and empathy-driven style. Active listening and yet dispassionate non-judgmental observation as a witness (Sakshi Bhav). A mentee-centered approach characterises the Indian coaching style as classically different from the western model.

Learning is a stance. Its a way of professional being. Leaders must be learners to make a difference.

Successful coaches realise that they need to continuously keep changing lenses to perspectivise: the subjects lens, an objective by-stander lens and that of a trusted resource. Mindfulness, listening, and objective analysis all help.

Leadership coaching is most definitely an art that requires skill, contextual understanding, empathy, practice and delivery for effective transformation and transition.

Views are personal.

Piyush Sharma, executive-in-residence at ISB and at UCLA, is a global CEO coach and a c-suite + start-up advisor. Marshall Goldsmith, business educator and coach, is a world-renowned leadership thinker.

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Leadership coaching: The East-West perspective - Fortune India

On the first Earth Day in 1970 Bill Litvin was a senior at Pottstown High School.

He doesn't remember a lot, but he never forgot choosing to walk across town to school. It was a small act in what would become a lifetime of thinking globally and acting locally.

"It was uphill to and from," he recalled. "There was no snow, that was April. It was good long walk, probably a mile and a half. I lived in the east end and the high school was on the north end."

Litvin is now a retired Giorgio Mushrooms sales executive. He's lived in Reading since 1987 and has led Berks County's Earth Day celebration since 1989 when it became an annual event. He said it grew out of the Berks Recycling Coalition.

"We saw Earth Day as a chance to educate people about environmental issues," Litvin said.

He's guided the event over years when it struggled to find a home and supporters for the jubilant celebration now held in City Park that focuses on education with family friendly activities.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic the event, which will mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, has been rescheduled for Sept. 27.

Our annual celebration of the Earth has its roots in what author Adam Rome called an extraordinary teach-in on April 22, 1970.

"The teach-ins collectively involved more people than the biggest civil rights and antiwar demonstrations of the 1960s," Rome wrote in the 2013 book, "The Genius of Earth Day: How a Teach-in Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation."

The first Earth Day received extensive news coverage as kindergartners to college students tackled cleanup projects and dramatic awareness campaigns.

"In the library of Tyson-Shoener Elementary School, a sign was suspended over a single red tulip: 'Look, you may never see one again. This is a flower,' wrote Ray Koehler on page one of the Reading Times on April 23, 1970.

He wrote that a Wyomissing Junior High School teacher said: "The kids are really steamed up about this. They've read in 30 years it could be all over and they are upset they'll only be in their 40s."

In downtown Reading, Koehler wrote, Students for Clean Air from Penn State Berks place flyers under the windshield wipers of cars: "Did you know the greatest air pollutant is carbon monoxide from YOUR car? You are hereby fined 10 years of life gasping for breath for involuntary manslaughter. Do your share to clean the air."

Sixth-graders at Thomas H. Ford Elementary School wore rubber masks to class.

Students fished television sets out of Furnace Creek and picked up litter around Antietam Lake.

"Practically every Reading and Berks elementary and high school had ground crews in action, but the Muhlenberg Junior High School Student Council went a step further," Koehler wrote. "It sent a letter to the superintendent of buildings and grounds requesting that workers refrain from using hard or long-lasting pesticides when spraying school shrubbery and lawns."

Students at then-Alvernia College planted a silver birch tree at noon.

Some Holy Name High School students, Koehler wrote, stood at Fifth and Penn streets seeking signatures for a petitions for anti-pollution legislation.

Koehler wrote that some students felt legislators were apathetic to their concerns.

"There was also the feeling that Earth Day 1970 would be a 'one shot and done' venture and that adults would not listen to the voices of teenagers," Koehler wrote.

But in his story, principals at Gov. Mifflin and Muhlenberg high schools expressed their desires to continue environmental education.

In Conrad Weiser, Koehler wrote, the school board had approved a one-year program to integrate environmental conservation into fifth and sixth grades.

Harry Serio, a Fleetwood resident and longtime United Church of Christ pastor in Berks County, was 29 on the first Earth Day.

Serio, a pastor in Martins Creek in Lehigh County, was involved in the civil rights and anti-war movement. As a member of Friends of the Earth, he helped organize college students at Muhlenberg College, Lehigh University, Lafayette College and Moravian College.

"There was a lot of enthusiasm back in that first Earth Day and the years following," Serio said. "Students would mobilize on campus and protest. We staged a lot of what we called teach-ins where we had groups come together to try to explain how critical the environmental crisis was."

Serio said the environmental movement had many different organizations in the 1970s, all based around different issues: nuclear proliferation, pollution, pesticides in food, supersonic transport and population explosion.

Shortly after Earth Day in 1970, Serio found himself in Womelsdorf.

"In Womelsdorf we started a movement made up of Conrad Weiser faculty called the Town and Country Coalition for Environmental Protection," Serio said. "We were concerned that so much farmland was being used up for development and highways."

Unlike the antiwar movement, which polarized people, Serio said, environmental issues didn't have many enemies except maybe those who were doing the polluting.

Serio said on some of those early issues advocates turned out to be alarmists regarding population explosion, supersonic transport and microwaves.

Oley-based John Hoskyn-Abrahall was a young filmmaker on the first Earth Day.

Hoskyn-Abrahall and his wife, Winnie Scherrer, own Bullfrog Films, which grew into a documentary maker and distributor.

"Earth Dayon Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park was actually part of Philadelphias Earth Week," Scherrer said. "There were events all over the city, and a wide range of celebrities came in including politicians (U.S. Sen. Ed Muskie of Maine and Mayor John Lindsay of New York), scholars and public intellectuals (Paul Ehrlich, Alan Watts, George Wald), well-known radicals (Jerry Rubin, Wavy Gravy), poets and writers (Allen Ginsberg, Ed Sanders, Terry Southern), musical acts (the Broadway cast of 'Hair', Redbone)."

She said everyone was fired up and there were heated political discussions at the events.

"John and filmmaking partners filmed all of them along with various local acts, community groups, gangs and others," Scherrer said. "We knew Earth Day was a huge marker in the evolution of the counterculture from obscurity to center stage. "

That film became "Circuit Earth," still available through the company or in separate clips on YouTube.

Hoskyn-Abrahalland his partners filmed in 16 mm, a revolutionary format that put filmmaking equipment into the hands and budgets of young people.

Bullfrog's means of delivering educational documentaries has changed from 16mm film to video (3/4 to Betamax and VHS) to DVDs.

"Now we are streaming digital files through our educational streaming partner Docuseek, through our community screening website bullfrogcommunities.com, and through our consumer streaming site called OVID.tv," she said.

Larry Lloyd, senior ecologist at Berks Nature, said he participated in Berks' first Earth Day at City Park to follow the mantra that still resonates through the movement, Think globally, act locally.

"First, for the many people who work on environmental matters, environmental education, and land and water protection and management, Earth Day is every day of every year," Lloyd said. "The commitment to a healthy environment that sustains all life on earth requires daily thoughtful actions and is a responsibility across generations.

"Environmental awareness is a lifestyle that reflects stewardship of the planet's natural resources."

Lloyd said Earth Day emerged from the industrial legacy of World War II and the Korean War.

"The use of war technology to control the environment led to widespread pollution in the U.S. environment in the 1960s best captured in the book, 'Silent Spring,' " Lloyd said. "Many dump sites would later be called Superfund sites."

From the Vietnam War, a young-adult movement emerged.

Lloyd said young people called for a green revolution and a cultural revolution to "displace the emptiness of the American dream and its 'happy days are here again,' which was contrary to the reality of pollution, environmental degradation, rapid suburban development and urban decay. Environmental awareness, the emergence of ecology, and hope for a healthier future were the cornerstones which led to Earth Day."

The momentum led to political activity that resulted in legislation across the nation in the 1970s to protect clean streams and endangered species.

Scherrer said the first Earth Day directly impacted legislation.

"The first Earth Day was a combination of fired-up passion, laid-back affect and a confidence we could fix the problems," Scherrer said. "That year the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and the EPA all came into being. Then the Endangered Species Act in 1973. It looked like the U.S. was going to be a leader, with law on our side."

Serio thinks Earth Day did make a difference.

"Because what happened was year after year people continued to be concerned about the environment," Serio said. "Now the issues have changed. What was important 50 years ago is not as important today. We have new issues. Global warming is certainly a big one. Our use of plastics the oceans are suffering and the sea animals are dying because of that. Farmland preservation is still important as well."

Serio credits the media for some of the impact.

"Just like today with the coronavirus," Serio said. "It was the same with the environmental movement. There wasn't a day that went by that you didn't see a story about environmental degradation."

Lloyd said the mantra of thinking globally and acting locally persists.

"There are many positive actions being done in Berks County," he said. "And there are many environmentally educated citizens, and there are abundant natural resources that can be restored.

"But greater participation is needed and the recognition that it will take everyone making the commitment to steward our environment if Berks County and the planet are to be regenerated and sustainable for future generations."

Original post:
Earth Day: Remembering the first celebration - Reading Eagle

It's set to be another glorious day in London.

Temperatures are forecast to reach 24 degrees, meaning the capital will be hotter than Spain, Greece and Tenerife on Thursday (April 23).

According to the BBC, it will be hottest in most parts of London at around 2pm.

Although it's vital we stay at home due to the coronavirus lockdown, anyone who has a garden will be able to bask in the sunshine.

Alternatively, others will be able to enjoy the sunshine while out on their daily excercise.

Here's when it's expected to be hot in your part of the capital.

There will be highs of 23 degrees on Thursday, with the hottest temperatures forecast for 2pm to 4pm.

A gentle breeze will give those enjoying the sunshine in their gardens or while exercising the chance to cool off.

Temperatures will reach a nice 20 degrees by 12pm, and will increase further throughout lunchtime.

After reaching a high of 24 degrees, it will start to cool down, although it's still expected to be 18 degrees at 8pm.

The North of the capital is set to be sunny with a gentle breeze, with highs of 23 degrees.

The hottest part of the day is forecast to be 2pm.

Much like other parts of London, Stratford will feel more like Barcelona on Thursday.

Highs of 23 degrees are forecast, with temperatures hottest at lunchtime.

Get more news updates for your local area by putting your postcode into our handy widget below:

Want more news? Go to our homepage.

Do you have a story? Email samuel.truelove@reachplc.com.

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London weather: Here's when 24C heat will arrive in your part of London - MyLondon

Dont tell my 11-year-old son Im holed up in my room, pondering whether people are hoarding Ding-Dongs and reclaiming my laptop from his desk. Its a common theme during this COVID-19 pandemic: adults told to work from home are losing their minds as they fight for devices and bandwidth while helping their children learn remotely. At last count, at least 124,000 K-12 public and private schools in the U.S. were closed for in-person schooling, affecting more than 55 million students.

As many have said, this isnt home schooling, where parents prepare ahead of time to teach their children. We talk about virtual learning, said Celeste M. Malone, coordinator of the school psychology program at the Howard University School of Education in Washington D.C., but this is emergency distance education.

How families feel about this upending of school rhythms depends on many things their job situation; the impact of the virus on their circle of loved ones; the content their school is providing; the time and tools they have for online learning; and even how many kids they have and their ages and learning needs. Its one thing to comfort a 16-year-old who is self-directed. Its quite another to help multiple children under 10. Then there are people whose children have special learning needs and often need more intensive support, like my son, who has Down syndrome.

This has prompted the expected outpouring of internet memes and horror stories about stepping out of the shower just as your child comes running with the iPad featuring his entire class on Zoom.

There is another line of thinking, though, that Ive seen circulating on social media or blogs that doesnt sit right with me. It goes something like: This is too much, for families and for schools, and Im not participating in online learning. People will emphasize how much learning and wonder can take place simply by cooking together or doing crafts and art. This is true, as long as parents have time for that. And no one can argue with a familys decision to put less emphasis on academics to focus on survival, especially in the midst of job losses or health concerns.

But underneath some of these arguments is the implication that public schooling is like a sour-tasting medicine being thrust upon us by overzealous educators, when in fact it is one of our most precious civil rights. We owe it to all children, but especially to students of color, those living in poverty or students with disabilities, to hold schools to high standards and look at how educators are making remote learning work.

No one knows yet what distance learning approaches might lead to the best student outcomes, but the research arm of the Department of Education is synthesizing data from families, educators and researchers. In the meantime, schools need to address equity of access first. A Pew Research study from 2018 found that about 15% of U.S. households lacked high-speed internet access, with disparities more pronounced for those with low incomes or who are black or Hispanic. Schools have made major efforts to get students connected, but heartbreaking stories still abound: eager students who have devices but no internet, or others who painstakingly type out assignments on smartphones because thats all they have.

Everything were saying is an issue has always been an issue, said Malone. Ive had longstanding issues with schools doing heavily online communication or using the web to submit work just because this is the wave of the future and people need to keep up. Now were seeing there are real issues and parents arent just being oppositional.

Some districts took weeks to implement formal distance learning, providing printed review packets until they were able to figure out how to supply food to families who qualify, and then how to distribute tens of thousands of loaner devices or get children connected to Wi-Fi.

Offers of free Internet service from local providers dont work for families whose living situation is fluid or who live in rural areas, so many districts are focusing on mobile hot spots, setting up Wi-Fi inside school buses or encouraging people to use school parking lots. In addition, districts including Los Angeles Unified, the countrys second largest, and Dallas ISD have partnerships with PBS stations to livestream programming and communication.

At Baltimore County Public Schools, where almost half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, Ryan Imbriale is the executive director for learning technology. He said his district was able to hit the ground running because theyve had a learning management system in place for seven years, along with continual professional development. The district is also mailing out paper packets to those who need them. When we come out on the other side, he said, we want to know that all of our kids are engaged.

In the meantime, he said, the focus on technology is paying off. (Students in grades 6 to 12 already had school-issued laptops.) When you get all of these middle school kids in a virtual room together, Imbriale said, its really powerful to see the connection they have with each other and their teacher."

An emphasis on professional development is key, said Joseph South, the chief learning officer for the International Society for Technology in Education, or ISTE. One of my big concerns, he said, is that were going to establish a baseline of what remote learning looks like that reflects essentially one or two days of educator learning.

Thats not what it could or should be, he said. The educators I know are trying to come up to speed, learning three or four systems, translating face-to-face teaching to online, learning how to communicate and then send assignments its a crushing workload, he said.

Teachers are also spending more time communicating with students. A recent survey from EdWeek Research Center found that 74% of all teachers communicated with most of their students either weekly or daily as of April 8, compared with 52% in late March.

Though this is a lot for teachers, its good news for those concerned about students basic needs. A crucial element of feeling emotionally safe is feeling connected with your school community, said John B. King Jr., a former education secretary who now leads The Education Trust, a nonprofit focused on educational equity. He said schools in the Phoenix Union District in Arizona started an effort called Every Student, Every Day, where staff connect with every student to identify challenges and offer support.

The relationship between teachers and students is the true core of education, King said, and efforts like holding virtual educator office hours, is another way to get it right. Great teachers and great schools can make all the difference for kids, King said. By the time I was 12 years old, I lost both my parents to illness. And I can unequivocally say that my teachers saved my life.

Sergio Garcia, the principal of Artesia High School in Los Angeles County, is also prioritizing outreach. I reached him through Karin Chenoweth, writer-in-residence at The Education Trust, who is producing a series of podcasts on extraordinary educators during the pandemic. Garcia said every student and parent at the school, which is 80% Latino and had a graduation rate above 98% last year, has his cellphone number, and theyve been checking in often. A lot of districts are doing enrichment activities only, Garcia said last week. We are continuing to educate. Last year, every senior applied to college.

Staff and counselors checking on students have discovered a trick to reaching those who dont respond: Text them after 9 p.m. If you send them a text at that hour, he said, a 30-second response is a long time. During the day, he said, a large majority are caring for siblings or have other responsibilities.

A willingness to meet families where they are is appreciated by parents, especially those lifting mountains to help their kids. Ay-Shia Baldwin-Jacobs works full time as a manager for Chick-fil-A in the Charlotte, N.C., area. Drive-through and delivery business is booming, so shes an essential worker. Shes been taking her 8-year-old daughter, Malene, with her to work, where her shifts sometimes start at 7:45 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. Malene works on a laptop and her mom sets alarms so she can run over to assist her for a few minutes at key times.

Baldwin-Jacobs is happy with how accommodating her daughters second-grade teacher has been. She brought my daughters work to my job one time because I dont have a car, Baldwin-Jacobs said. At first, she was worried her daughter would lose ground but said teachers at the school, part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg system, are very proactive and very involved with all of their students. If Malene cant make it to the classroom Zoom session, the teacher will meet with her another time.

Delivering instruction remotely to very young children presents a unique challenge. They are sometimes pre-literate and it requires a much greater amount of parental involvement, said South of ISTE, which is another equity issue not often discussed. More affluent parents are in a better position to assist their children than lower-income families.

Schools seem to recognize that, and many are either not grading or are using a modified grading or credit system. Malone agrees with that approach, because were not grading based on learning, were grading based on other factors like access and space to work. But teachers should still be giving feedback so children can learn, she said.

The experts I spoke with were also very concerned about students with disabilities falling through the cracks. It isnt easy to deliver certain therapeutic supports online or to connect with students who have language impairments. Im pleased with what our public charter school is doing for my son; he loves being on Zoom with his general education classmates or special education teachers.

But some schools and parents are feeling at a loss. Educating All Learners, a new online resource from a consortium of technology innovators and disability groups, is hoping to be part of the solution. The site curates resources, hosts forums and has practical case studies. Saying, We dont know how, or We cant do this is not an acceptable response to the education of complex learners, said Erin Mote, executive director of InnovateEDU, a founding partner.

As with most things in education, it ultimately falls on individual teachers to save the day. Larry Ferlazzo, a teacher, author and blogger for Ed Week, hosts a series of podcasts about teaching during the pandemic. One of the first episodes featured four teachers from around the country.

They said their students uniformly craved connection and told them they wanted to get back to school. David Sherrin, a social studies teacher at Scarsdale High School in Westchester County, N.Y., found a silver lining: We now know for sure, he said, that the way we were doing school was the best way it could be done. Face-to-face learning, that is where education really happens.

He advised other teachers to focus on bringing joy. The more we can make the work joyful and creative, said Sherrin, who wrote a book about authentic assessments, that will be one of the most meaningful things we can do for them.

Vicki Vila is a freelance editor and writer in Charlotte, N.C. She wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.

Read more from the original source:
The burden of switching to online education falls mostly on teachers - The Dallas Morning News

People often go back to school during a recession. But what about when schools are closed? Many of those who have lost their jobs or are sheltering at home due to the global coronavirus pandemic are seeking out education online, and Sebastian Thrun expects this trend to continue long after the worst of Covid-19 has subsided. Known as the optimistic engineer who created Googles self-driving car project, in recent years Thrun has become an advocate for online learning as cofounder and executive chairman of education platform Udacity. At a time when many industries are struggling to cope with lost business, Udacity and its peers are doing well. In just one week in March, Thruns company, which offers courses for adults in AI, data science, and business, signed up more students than it had in the second half of 2019.

On Monday, WIREDs editor in chief, Nicholas Thompson, sat down for a chat with Thrun over Facebook Live. They spoke about why it can be difficult to innovate in schools and how online learning is capable of filling many of the voids created by this pandemic. In the past, Thrun says, school districts and university professors alike had been risk-averse. But hes convinced that the move to online learning forced by coronavirus will help naysayers realize that going digital could make it easier for some to learn. Adult education, Udacitys focus, seems like a good place to start: What companies are beginning to realize in this digital revolution is that their own people are an amazing resource. The coronavirus situation, as sad as it is, has really helped that understanding because now lots of employees are sitting at home."

Still, Thrun freely admits that online education wontand shouldntrender in-person learning obsolete. While programs like Udacity excel at teaching hard skills, social skills like empathy are harder to learn through a screen. Computers can help, he says, but having people on your side will always be an advantage.

Hundreds of readers watched and submitted questions for Thompson and Thrun to answer live, and this was the second in a series of four conversations presented by Salesforce in which WIRED will explore what the coronavirus pandemic means for the future of business, education, technology, and health.

More From WIRED on Covid-19

Continue reading here:
'Education Is a Human Thing'but Covid-19 Will Push It Online - WIRED

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), the massive not-for-profit online innovator, is taking the moment of thecoronavirus pandemicto permanently trim its in-person operations to a remotely delivered minimum.

Regardless of when its physical campus in Manchester is safe to reoccupy, SNHU said it plans to cut its base annual tuition charge there from $3,100 (2,500) to $1,000 and to find all available methods of teaching at that price.

SNHU had already been planning to move in that direction over time, its president, Paul LeBlanc, said in an interview. But the virus-driven economic downturn with US unemployment already triple the 8million of the 2009 recession demands that it happen right now, even if all details are not yet finalised, Dr LeBlanc said.

Our families are going to be reeling, he said, and weve got to be prepared with a better answer.

SNHU, with 3,000 on-campus students and more than 135,000 online, has long beencarving outa unique space in post-secondary education that competitors seem unsure whether toenvy or dismisspending moreperformance data.

While for-profit operators have given online teaching a reputation for short-changing students, Dr LeBlanc has emphasised the approachs potential to lower costs and deliver personalised instruction that credits skills gained outside formal class settings.

SNHUs future will retain that approach for its online population while waging an all-out assault on expenditures that are not absolutely necessary on the physical campus.

Easier examples, he said, could include using staff from the online operation, known as College for America, to provide non-academic services such as financial counselling; converting its campus health services to tele-medicine formats; and renting out sports facilities when not used by students.

More fundamentally, Dr LeBlanc envisages more on-campus students taking courses online, plus a rapid expansion of SNHUs Project Atlas, which moves faculty from traditional classrooms to mentor-facilitator roles in which they guide students who learn largely through individual projects or off-campus employment.

Faculty may even be relieved of grading, as SNHU is working with UK-based Pearson to implement assessment systemsdriven by artificial intelligence. Everything is up for debate and discussion, Dr LeBlanc said.

Yet all the computerisation will not mean campusesdevoid of the hum of traditional student activity, Dr LeBlanc said. There is a coming-of-age experience that a campus community offers, he said. You cant do it without the robust presence and interaction of humans.

Although a four-year institution, SNHUs academic programmes have skewed towards offerings regarded as vocational. Dr LeBlanc, however, has long seen demand rising for highly efficient, job-focused instruction.

The 2009 recession sparked a great migration from four-year to two-year schools, he said. That was a dress rehearsal, as bad as it was, for what were about toface.

If SNHUs Manchester campus can open this autumn, its admitted freshmen will have the option of taking their first-year courses there online,with no tuition charge, or getting their deposits refunded, Dr LeBlanc said. Existing students will get their promised traditional classes through graduation.

As SNHU outlined its plans, another leading non-profit provider of online education, Purdue University, alsoreiterated its commitmentto resuming and strengthening its physical campus presence once it can safely do so.

All the evidence reveals, Purdues president, Mitchell Daniels, wrote to the campus community, that students who live and spend more of their time on campus succeed academically at higher rates.

paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com

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US online pioneer vows greater push to slash post-pandemic tuition - Times Higher Education (THE)