Brilliant Brainstorming!

Clashing personalities or overblown egos often stand in the way of a productive meeting (or as my district identifies it – Professional Learning Communities).  Whether you are meeting with a larger or smaller group, the better ideas often seem to occur after the meeting is held.  How can we improve upon this?!

 

I read about this discussion-generating method in the current issue of Psychology Today (one of the 17 magazines I subscribe to!) and thought I’d bring it back to my PLC at the next session.  It worked!!!  It proved a more honest, productive way to generate thoughts.

Here it is (courtesy of Psychology Today) ~

I.   Write ~ Everyone sits down with a different colored pen and a piece of paper.  Each person writes an idea on the paper and passes his/her paper to the right.  EVERYONE IS MORE ACCOUNTABLE IF THEY HAVE THEIR OWN COLOR – BRILLIANT!! 

II.  React ~ Read the idea (silently) on the paper you just received, then add your own idea.  If you can’t think of something, just pass it along to keep the creative juices flowing.

III. Review ~ When a paper has about five ideas, retire it to the center of the group.  Everyone now analyzes them.  Because everyone’s ideas are all out there, there’s a need for a more systematic consideration of each idea.

IV.  Select ~ Everyone makes a list of their favorite ideas.  In my groups case, we are a small enough group that we just orally identified the favorites.  For a larger group, writing down the favorites may be more productive and honest.

“When the group is committed, they are usually surprised with what they achieve.”  (Heslin)

Bonus to Educators:  This can work as a classroom strategy as well, as a means to generate discussions or initiate background knowledge!!

Try it at your next meeting!!! 

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The meaning is in the muscle

In a previous post, I said that the meaning is in the message sender, not in the message itself. Well, I have an addendum for that post: sometimes our bodies knows what’s up before we do. Common sense tells us that expressions and non-verbal actions display what’s going on inside our heads. But according to an article in the May/June 2009 issue of Psychology Todaythe road goes both ways – our feelings and attitudes are also informed by what our bodies are doing. This supports my theory that the actual words of messages don’t nearly matter as much as the person behind the words. It also takes the theory a step further: we can make ourselves believe or feel a certain way by how we physically move.
Here are some examples of the “muscle” holding the meaning ~
Botox erases both wrinkles and emotions.  The muscle paralyzing drug has been shown to mute not only visible expressions of fear and anger but also the actual feelings that accompany those expressions.

Pressing down on top of your desk as if pushing something away puts in a mind-set of avoidance and vigilance.  This little trick enhances attention, inhibition, and analytical reasoning.  Taking a few steps backward works, too.  Hmmm, GG says next time you are taking a written test, you may want to take a moment to press your palms to your writing surface.

Similarly, pressing up on the bottom of your desktop flexes the muscles used to bring things closer, signaling a benign (rather than dangerous) situation and boosting your creativity.  Have a brain freeze (not the kind caused by ice cream), press up!

If you want to like a painting, picture, or song  more, nod your head while lookng at it, as if in agreement.  We implicitly associate certain actions with judgments that tend to produce them.  Want to put yourself in a cynical mood?  Shake your head.  I always enjoyed nodding as feedback from students . . . now I appreciate it even more!

To make something seem funnier, hold a pencil horizontally between your teeth.  The forced grin increases the perceived funniness of whatever you look at.

Do you cry because you’re sad or are you sad because you cried?  According to research, placing fake tears under your eyes actually increases feelings of sorrow.  This explains why I could keep the tears coming once I started a “fake” cry for roles on stage in college.

GG’s Trick for rainy days and Mondays:  Want to feel better anywhere, anytime?!?  Smile. . . even if you’re not feeling happier, you will . . . GUARANTEED!!!

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