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Showing posts from March, 2016

Bringing Down Apathy (Flyer) / #SouthNorwalk #Community Center / #positivedisruption CoachBill.US #allin

The People United Cannot be Divided Stand with #EachOther to finish off the ouster  of CEO Warren Pena  from the South Norwalk Community Center. Let’s bring in #ServantLeadership that puts others before self first! Let’s give ourselves great programs that empower us: chess art music dance  theater yoga executive function skills coaching academic tutoring social entrepreneurship training  and multiple sports programs Let’s give the homeless hope,  help them be productive and off the streets! Let’s bring in people who care about putting the families of South Norwalk first at  the South Norwalk Community Center Contact via email at CoachBill.US to sign your name and put your heart towards empowering your community.  For more, go to https://www.CoachBill.US Twitter.Com @CoachBill007 Instagram: CoachBill007 Youtube: CoachBill007  

CoachBill.US Goes to #CityHall / #hope #positivedisruption #SouthNorwalkCommunityCenter #youth #socialresponsibility

I chose chamomile tea over my usual peppermint tea for the occasion. A night-time city hall meeting discussing the introduction of zip lines as its main agenda piece for the town of Norwalk, Connecticut was published in The Hour newspaper, a local publication for my town.  With coat and tie and colorful socks I attended such a meeting to bring to the foray awareness of a campaign I am championing for the voiceless, poor people of South Norwalk. Entering, I sat in the front facing the council and the sharply-dressed mayor standing to one side. He was addressing the press and the town constituents on this matter and that matter as I made myself comfortable. Taking my seat I put my notebook, my bible and my black hat aside and began to listen. About seventy-minutes into the discussion which swayed from mall zoning and traffic sound issues and the sporadic compliment to council members by people in the audience, it was my turn to speak. “Mr. Mayor, I am a Special Edu...

Be a Harbormaster of your Heart and Mind: Be Different and Stand Out / #coding #beinghuman

The world is filled with 'good enough' results and 'ok' hearts.  Having an 'ok' heart is far better than having a troubled heart in constant turmoil and rising above the norm of what is expected simply is not required and not needed, in most cases. In fact, we can do less than spectacular on a daily basis and lead lives with healthy measures of happiness and fulfillment which by average standards are acceptable to ourselves and our communities. Just like a computer being programmed with code, our brains get coded from an early age with messages that shape and mold its line of thinking and ultimately our actions. It is quite true that the plasticity in our brain is malleable and that we are free to re-code our thought patterns, how we view ourselves and how we approach the world with our thought process. Brain plasticity means that we become our thoughts and feelings with our actions reinforcing or weakening the power behind these thoughts and feelings.  ...

Let's Party! Popping Pills: From #ADHD to #Heroin in Pill Format / #thisAmericanQuilt #socialresponsibility #youth

Over the last half-decade, the move to hide drug-use has gone from disdaining clouds of lingering marijuana smoke that leave blatant evidence to 'now you see them, now you don't' party-pills. Getting wasted on them can easily be mistaken for simply being drunk, especially if the drug-user has a beer bottle or 'drink' in their hand. No one is the wiser and unsuspecting, aloof parents chuck it up to a 'rite of passage' that is mildly looked down upon thinking it is just booze.  Drug distributors across the country have homed in on the popularity of taking drugs in pill format and have created a potpourri of '31 flavors' to cater to all kinds of demands mostly coming from an adolescent and early adulthood (college-age) market.  Injecting heroin with a syringe is passe,' and not at all fashionable. That is what junkies do. The 'cool kids' pop the pills, drink a bit of beer and proceed with their plans of having a good time. It i...

#JohanCruyff - Elevating the #ExecutiveFUNction of #Soccer w/ #TotalFootball / #chess #strategy #spatialawareness

In chess, it is crucial to assert control of the board early on. The agile chess player does so by masterminding the beginning moves. Trotting out the valuable pieces front and center, as opposed to playing a pawn game early on allows the player to control and limit the forward momentum of his or her opponent. Likewise, limiting tactical maneuvering by 'controlling the board' throws the opponent into limiting possible strategies. In the best of cases, the opponent is forced to play a 'pawn game.' Dutch legend Johan Cruyff elevated the game of soccer to a new standard of sportsmanship and executive function by being the biggest promoter of a fluid and adaptable strategy to win games called 'Total Football.' Cruyff was keen on spatial awareness and had a mind focused on where to run to using his foresight (the ability to anticipate and predict), where to hold ground and when not to move on the 'pitch,' or what is known as the soccer field. His...

#AbrahamLincoln - The Great Orchestra Conductor / #executivefunction #fortitude #riseabove #thisAmericanQuilt

Fortitude and conviction partly stems from knowing who you are and where you are going and having a strong foundation on which to rest on. It also stems from being clear on your goals and your ability to anticipate and predict many of the obstacles that will show up on your path. In the same way, a sailor knows not the exact conditions that may buffet the ship, but experience delineates an ability to foresee general conditions that will be experienced. Abraham Lincoln was such a man in a time of great division. Lincoln took over not just because of his values and ideals or his ability to articulate ideas, but because of his ability to bring together people with very different view points on how to move America forward. He came in to the arena at a time devoid of strong, independent leadership which was needed, yet not found in the land. His friends, he kept close to him and his enemies he kept even closer. For this he became respected and valued as a fair and equitable man of c...

The Executive FUNction of #Skateboarding / #autism #downsyndrome #executiveFUNction

For more, go to http://www.CoachBill.US Twitter.Com @CoachBill007 Instagram: CoachBill007 Youtube: CoachBill007

#Palestina - Dancing Justice into the Heart, Into the Mind / #positivedisruption #commnunity #MiddleEast #thisHumanQuilt

What is to be said and done to a people bereft of land and opportunity? Historically despised by many. Bottom of the barrel. Off-scouring. Fighters. Pushed around. What is to be said of a small people whom are typified as barbarians, rock throwers, harbingers of terrorism, rebel-rousers, aggressors, non-conformists, hijackers, an implacable people? Palestina. Palestine.  There are always two sides to a coin. In Gaza, what amounts to a high-tech security prison, nutritional and caloric intake is reduced purposefully for the whole population. This means that there is not enough healthy food apportioned to each Palestinian to grow strong, ruddy and vibrant. Neurological and physical health is dealt a heavy blow. According to established water authorities within Gaza, ninety percent of the potable drinking water is contaminated and not fit for drinking. Infrastructure that deals with water safety and its distribution was bombed out long ago and peters forward. The wo...

Executive FUNction with Alabama Shakes CoachBill.US

Watch video on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/r7AqejU93kU via CHANNEL TITLE

Executive FUNction with Alabama Shakes CoachBill.US

For more, go to http://www.CoachBill.US Twitter.Com @CoachBill007 Instagram: CoachBill007 Youtube: CoachBill007

#BuenosAires -Being Rich & Poor, #Family & the Slopes Of #Bariloche, #Argentina / #thisQuilt #allthatmatters

I am thankful that I have known what it is to be incredibly wealthy and incredibly poor. I have lived both sides and appreciate the lessons both states can teach. My family use to be quite affluent before Hurricane Hugo blasted  my fathers  housing development projects in the late 1980's and some financial mistakes shattered everything. We use to ski in Utah and Colorado in the winters. In the summer time we would fly into Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mom and Dad would book a suite for the family at the Plaza Hotel there. I would have the cheese soup. We would walk Avenida Florida, visit the stores and eat. At least that was my experience. One time I let go of my mother's hand and grabbed it again only to find that it was not her. The stranger took me to the 'cuartel,' or police station where I sat until my parents showed up. Mom and Dad would tell us to stick close to them. In the 1980's people would disappear in Argentina and I knew this back then. I remember see...

Lesson Number 1 / Exercises in How We Teach #edchat #positivedisruption CoachBill.US

Lesson Number 1 The beginning of the successful instructional approach begins by putting aside formalities and being human. The teacher humbly understands that teaching and learning is a journey where both teach and both learn from the process. Instruction is given while the ability to listen to the student’s verbal and non-verbal communication is taught by the learner to the teacher. It is then a matter of perspective, a metacognitive outlook (thinking about out thinking and how we approach the world with our thought process) that outlines the further success and progression of the teaching and learning experience. Clear understanding of this principle is paramount to facilitate surpassing potential for instructor and instructed. Again, the beginning of the successful instructional approach begins by dropping pretenses and simply being genuine. This is the secret to my success and the success of my students. The awareness of the impact of verbal and non-verbal commu...

#America Brings #Revolution to @Cuba / #positivedisruption #community #PresidentialGrit @POTUS #goForth :)

Tio Enrique, went back almost two decades ago and brought back pictures... Mami, as her grandchildren call our graceful, humble and classy artist grandmother said,  "Ay! Los mumbles son los mismos mio. No los han cambiado!" My cousin, my sister & a stowaway (lols)  Two families had been living in our family home. She left  Miramar, Cuba in the heart of La Habana in 1959 never to return. My cousin, Enrique Alfredo and my youngest sister, Giselle,  went back about a year and half ago and walked into my families former home cataloging it and bringing back a treasure trove of nostalgia for the rest of the family to see. The families living in the home were gracious enough to allow this. Everything is run down in an elegant way. The people living there there have done what they can with the means they have had.  People do what they can to get by. Enrique told me of the warped political science perspective of the taxi drivers which like the Chevro...

Coding Ourselves Into Our Children / An Exercise in Honoring Our Past #family #community #storytelling

Family stories fill us, guide us and lead us into the paths of our lives. They code understanding into us and leave imprints of wisdom from times past. Do you relate the stories of your family to your children? Do you know your families past? Are you writing it down? Recently, I worked with a student whom is interviewing on film the great-grandmother who is 100 years old. Along with the mother, I facilitated the initial guidance of brainstorming, planning and sequencing on how to begin to go about it. On my way out of the home I mentioned the obvious to Mom...that the film for her child's school project would not just be for school, but serve as a record for years to come. Who knows if her child will have a family one day and then will have this record to share with the family. Knowing where we come from and honoring our past is vital to how we step into each present moment as we create our future. I believe that this is a truth worth heeding and it serves not just individual f...