Category: Creativity

Posted on

A New Playground for the Innovatively Inclined

If you have visions dancing in your head of new products that don’t yet exist, the new Tech Shop in San Francisco, at 926 Howard Street (near 7th Street) is where you can make your new idjit a reality.

On Friday, January 14th, the Tech Shop had a grand opening. The new facility’s parent is the original Tech Shop in Menlo Park, founded by Jim Newton, which opened October 1, 2006. A candy store for the innovatively inclined, the tech shop is a membership based, open-access do-it-yourself workshop.

The Tech Shop has grown outside the Bay Area as well, with locations in Raleigh, NC and Portland, OR. This year new shops will also open in San Jose, CA and Detroit, MI.

Classes cover the gamut if you want to create something. Before you use a specific tool you have to have proficiency of it and it may require that you first take an “SBU” class which covers safety and basic usage. Among the many tools at the Tech Shop you’ll find laser cutters, TIG welding, plasma cutters, vinyl cutters, industrial sewing machines, mold makers and more. There’s even a class on patenting your invention.

It’s couldn’t be more appropriate that the tag line for the Tech Shop is “Build Your Dreams Here.” But you don’t have to have a new product in mind to enjoy what the Tech Shop has to offer. There’s also classes like basic woodworking (I signed up for this one). In this class you learn to make a small bench that you can sit on while you put your shoes on.

This class will complete the WoodWorking Safety and Basic Usage requirements at the Tech Shop. Plus, you’ll learn to use a circular saw, jig saw, drill press, power screwdriver, radial arm saw and table saw to create a bench. Then, you can use the scroll saw or jig saw or CNC ShopBot to decorate the bench. Do you know what CNC ShopBot is?

Posted on

3 Major Causes of Reading Failure according to Mary Pecci

Reading specialist, Mary Pecci, author of At Last, a Reading Method For Every Child gives a demonstration of the Pecci Reading Method on a DVD which takes you page by page through the over 300 page of her book. This could be an excellent tool for more visual learners.

Pecci says that what makes her reading method different is that it is the only reading method that avoids the 3 major causes of reading failure, which are (quoting her):

1. Difficulty making the transfer from “decodable” text (Ex. A cat sat and sat), which CAN be sounded out letter-by-letter, and “real English” text (Ex. Once upon a time there were three little bears), which CAN’T be sounded out letter-by-letter.

2. Difficulty handling the numerous sounds and exceptions for many of the letters and letter-combinations. Ex. “a” as in: cat, want, father, away; “ea” as in: real, head, great, learn, heart; “ou” as in: out, soul, soup, young, could, thought, etc., etc., etc.

3. Difficulty handling the constant infiltration of “Sight” words (unphonetic words) so that they either can’t retain the mountainous information or they are constantly confronted with the dilemma, “What SOUND does this have this time – or is it a SIGHT word?”

That’s three good reasons to get Pecci’s book. The DVD will take you step-by-step through her method and is $99 plus tax and postage. If you order Pecci’s DVD and mention my blog you’ll get a special 50 percent discount and postage paid.

Posted on

4 Quick Tips from a Speedy Reader

Mary Pecci
Mary Pecci, Reading Specialist
Reading teacher and author, Mary Pecci, is a petite, elegant lady I recently had the honor of meeting. She wrote the book, At Last, a Reading Method For Every Child (now in its 5th edition). It’s also available at amazon.com.

Pecci shares that the main things to remember to become a speed reader are:

1) Don’t subverbalize. Saying each word to yourself silently as you read it slows you down.
2) Guide with your finger so you don’t regress. The movement of your finger across the page and down keeps up the momentum.
3) Vary your speed. Slow down for formulas or if concepts require it.
4) Visualize what you’re reading. Make a video in your mind as you go along.

“It is important to look up words you come across that you don’t know,” said Pecci. “It’s pejorative,” she added. In essence, if we skip words we don’t know then we won’t fully comprehend what we’re reading.

You can find Mary Pecci’s instructional reading resources and the Pecci Reading Method at www.onlinereadingteacher.com.

Posted on

What is an Attentionometer?

This is a continuation from the two previous posts about David Delp’s talk on connecting with what matters. He encouraged setting goals every week.

The first step is to figure out what your’e paying attention to.

The second step is to then look at what you’d like to pay more and less attention to.

Once you see what’s most important, it’s not about how long it takes. It’s small things. Like a phone call.

“Our attention happens in the smallest moments and they happen in the smallest ways,” said Delp.

In Roman times sports were used to distract citizens from paying attention to what the government was doing.

The Attentionometer was introduced in a short workshop after Delp’s talk. It came in a small hand-sized pouch, like the kind you’d imagine is full of golden nuggets and easily fits in your purse or backpack. Inside were sticks the shape of popsicle sticks that were color coded to represent the various sectors of life, like green for financial, red for love, etc. And to begin using the Attentionometer, we laid out three cards, like 3 headers to three columns in a document. “Not Enough,” “Enough,” and “Too Much” were the three headers.

This was a lovely visual inventory of where time was going. There’s more to the Attentionometer. David Delp’s giving a workshop on Sunday, January 30th in San Francisco: “The Game of Goals, How to Make Going There Even Better than Getting There.” For more details see his site at GameOfGoals.com.

What are goals about, really? Delp says it’s about making a plan, doing it and seeing how it goes.