A Window Worth Looking Through
Let’s take a moment to look at the Johari Window, as created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham. The Johari Window is a cognitive psychological tool most often used in…
When Life Hands You Lemons: How to MAKE the Lemonade
We all know we’re supposed to make lemonade when life hands us lemons. As nice as it might be to never get the lemons in the first place, it’s not…
Failure for Dummies
One of the hallmarks of a quality learning environment is that it permits learners to fail. We might conclude that the primary reason is that without the possibility of failure,…
FeedBACK or FeedFORWARD?
At Pacific Crest and in Process Education, we generally divide feedback into ASSESSEMENT-based and EVALUATION-based. The first is about improving performance; the latter about judging performance. As paradigms go, it…
Choosing Celebration Instead of Regret
In Buddhism, desire is thought to be the cause of all suffering. One extremely common kind of desire is regret: the wish for that which is contrary to reality. You…
Showing the Target: Criteria in Context
You can't hit a target you cannot see, and you cannot see a target you do not have. Zig Ziglar Our last blog entry was about criteria and how we…
Criteria are Everything
If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. Anonymous That’s worth keeping in mind, but…
Will You JUDGE or HELP?
Mom: “That's not good....you fell off your bike and got hurt. You're not supposed to do that.” Dad: “You didn’t even make it to the trees. You failed at your…
Assessment and Lightbulbs
Q: How many assessors does it take to change a lightbulb?A: One, obviously, because change is something we do TO lightbulbs. Q: How many assessors does it take to improve…
Start with Affirmation
When starting a new performance, whether a difficult and serious one (a new job or a new course/degree or major project) or one that’s relatively inconsequential (a new hobby or…