Good things come in small packages. That’s especially true if we pay attention to their beauty and impact. In Monster Baby Episode #91, Ted and Lisa explore the many delights of tiny choices. Lisa starts the episode with a check-in on the imminent birth of her first child (3:11) and Ted reports the great fun [more…]
Monster Baby #66 Accountability Buddies
Who holds you accountable? Even just a little addition of accountability can make a huge difference in the behavioral choices we make. What the heck makes that work? Given an unexpected gift of time and inspired by an agreement Ted has recently made with a buddy of his, Ted and Lisa dive into Monster Baby [more…]
Monster Baby #59 Redefine the Ding: Playing with Positive Reinforcement
What behavior do you really want to encourage? Today’s episode starts with the mind-blowing wonder of Lisa’s recent night out at a magic show (1:41) before Lisa and Ted together jump into the realm of positive reinforcement (11:30). Ted helps clarify some commonly misused terminology (17:59) before sharing some thoughts about the game “Dolphin Training” [more…]
Who Needs the Title? Wakesurfing, TAGteaching and the Sweet Spot of Skilled Instruction
Title, schmitle. You don’t have to be a capital-T teacher to make a great instructor. My tech-industry buddy Dave Treadwell showed me that just a few weeks ago when he got this old dog up and steady wakesurfing after two short sessions. I’m almost always considering what makes for great teaching and learning but the [more…]
AAAACCKK!!! Here’s a Wince-Worthy Example of How NOT to Use a Clicker
Ah, the sting of watching a beloved technique get twisted into a pain-producer. One of the most effective tools at the disposal of positive reinforcement is a clicker, a small device that generates a clearly audible “click” for marking a particular behavior in a particular moment. It doesn’t carry any of the emotional variation of [more…]
A Visionary Victory for Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks: How a New Way of Thinking Bonded a Team and Brought Home a Championship
Pete Carroll had heard it for years and right up until Super Bowl game time. The ridicule. The doubt. The derision. Pete Carroll’s too much of a players’ coach. That rah-rah style might work at USC, but it won’t work with grown men in the pros. Seattle’s too lax to win a championship. Now, after [more…]
Under Pressure (The Wisdom of Mistakes Follow-Up Interview)
Shortly after the previous post, The Wisdom of Mistakes, appeared in the Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni magazine, a trio of students in the Video as Visual Art class asked if they could interview me for further reflections. I gladly obliged and felt even more thankful after hearing the sophistication of their questions—them boys made [more…]
The Wisdom of Mistakes
If you want to succeed, embrace failure. A year ago, I would have expected such paradoxical advice to come from a Taoist monk or a Jedi master. Now, after a sabbatical year away from school, I find myself touting that same refrain as I explore questions about teaching and learning. How do I encourage the [more…]
Hey Jude: A Purr-tial Cat-a-log of a Year’s Learning
I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised, but my sabbatical studies in positive reinforcement have changed the way I relate with all animals, both human and other-than-human. That shift has become more obvious after these last 10 days I’ve spent with Jude the cat. While I’ve been sticking around San Francisco this month, my good [more…]
A Positive-Minded Primer on Punishment and Reinforcement–with a Buddhist Twist (Part 2 of 2)
[This is the second half of a two-part post. Part 1 can be found here.] Negative Reinforcement (R-) makes a wanted behavior more likely by taking away or reducing something the learner does not enjoy. It “eliminates an aversive,” as they say in the field. In this sense, it’s a kind of relief from unpleasantness. [more…]
