"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all which have the potential to turn a life around." ~Leo Buscaglia
After reading the book please take a moment to respond by using the , and ? and !
For comma a time that the book or readings made you pause and think
For the question mark a time the book or readings made you ask yourself a question
For the exclamation point describe an AHA moment. A time that you became excited or it was an eye opening moment
Please leave your post for others to read
3 comments:
I started reading the text on Saturday Morning and finished Saturday night. I couldn't put it down. (except when I had to mow the lawn.) It was very interesting and thought provoking.
The part of the book that made me stop and think was when the Sea World trainers were comparing training Shamu with training a dog. People hit and kick dogs but not an 11,000 pound killer whale. Why not treat your dog, or students, the same way the Sea World trainers treat Shamu. Focus on the positive and get more of those actions that are desired.
The part of the book that made me ask myself a question was when Wes tried his first Whale Done approach with Merideth. I thought to myself, "how am I going to do this with my class?" Wes was so specific and detailed as to what he was redirecting that I didn't know if it could be done in a classroom with 24 students. Time is a huge issue.
My AHA moment came when Wes decided not to give up on his whale done approach when his boss wanted better results. He stuck with his new beliefs and his philosophy worked out in the end. I know this will take some time and a lot of effort to be successfully implemented in my classroom. However, I think the whale done approach will be a welcomed change by my students, and myself.
I finally finished the book!!! I never thought I would have the chance with having a baby at home. :) The part of the book that made me stop and think was the how they talked about training the whales by using trust, accentuating the positive, and redirecting the negative behavior. I guess this is both my ", and ?". This made me think of my dog Corbin. He's 120 lbs. Chocolate Lab. I got married 3 years ago and our first night in our new home was our wedding night. The dog moved in shortly after, and that's when the fun began. I understood that this was going to be an adjustment for the dog seeing that I lived with my parents and they had a dog who really loved my dog. After moving in, my husband and I began to see the "naughty puppy" behaviors come back (chewing the wood blinds, jumping on coffee tables, etc). We didn't know what to do. The dog couldn't be confined because he would break out of where ever he was and he had already gone through the whole dog training classes and graduated top in his class (I think these classes were more for the two of us learning about how to treat our dog and how to redirect his attention to something positive). Long story short, my dog got better with some need attention and some trust from us that his new home was going to be just fine. Needless to say the dog freaked out when I was pregnant (he knew before us that something was up). He started jumping through windows while we were at work and destroying the house making it look like we were just robbed. At our wits end we ended up putting the dog on some medication that to this day he's still on. During the pregnancy and when our son was born, it was back to square one with building the trust with the dog and looking for the positive behavior we expected. This was very similar to the expectations they had with the whales.
My AHA moment came after reading the text. I was in the grocery store this past Tuesday night picking up a few things. I was the third person in line when I noticed the person that was currently being checked-out was having problems with the Credit/Debit machine. They thought it might be her card so they took her up to the customer service desk to check her out. The lady in front of me began to swipe her card when she said very rudely to the cashier, "credit"! The young girl asked her to swipe the card again because it didn't seem to be working. The customer swiped the card and began to yell at the cashier that she should turn her light off and close down the lane if things aren't working properly. I just sat there almost stunned in how rude the customer was to the girl. At this point I thought of the book on how "GOTcha, redirection, and WHALE DONE all play out. Although I was in a hurry I waited patiently and watched the woman in front of me walk out of the store leaving the groceries behind. I looked at the cashier and said to the girl; "I won't walk out on you, in fact, I'll wait here as your test subject with the credit card machine". 20 minutes later, 3 managers, and several cashiers, they fixed it". They then began to check me out and for being so patient paid for the $42.00 worth of groceries that I had and thanked me. I WAS STUNNED!! Normally I would've gone to a different lane but the book came to mind and something within me had that feeling of "try to help someone else with redirection". I think I did just that, I helped someone else take something negative (the machine breaking and a customer being rude and negative) and turn it into a positive learning experience. I'm glad i read this book because I feel it has changed me in someways.
I started reading the book one night and I couldn't put it down either! I started reading at about 11:00pm and finished it at 2:00am. I was tired, but really enjoyed the book. It made me stop and think...
The part of the book that made me stop and think was when Wes was learning how the whales were being trained at Sea World by Dave and his trainers. I thought it was so neat how they really focused on the positive.
The part of the book that made me ask myself a question was when Wes went to see Anne at her seminar. He learned that we are all managers of people. It made me pay attention and question how my interactions are with other people no matter how I feel that particular day.
My AHA moment of the book was of course the happy ending how Wes used the WHALE DONE method at his work and with his family and how it helped him succeed in both areas of his life. I am excited to use this method in my classroom and my personal life with my children. You can be successful if you do not give up!
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