"Skills are the most important links between the knowledge we accumulate and the quality of what we ultimately do and produce in life." – O.S. What is a Skill? A skill is an ability or inner power to communicate, solve problems, and provide solutions or results. It is acquired by training, practice and experience. A skill facilitates performance, the accomplishment of tasks, and general learning, in physical and mental tasks for oneself or others. A skill results in aptitude and competence that lead to becoming an expert or specialist. Skills vary in number and power in all of us. IMPORTANCE FOR EDUCATORS/STUDENTS The 48 skills are cross-curricular competency skills. They fully support and enhance all curriculum and are suitable at primary, junior, intermediate, senior, adult, special education levels. The skills empower students and help them improve their positions on evaluation rubrics. Call or email for an opportunity to find out more about skills training for your staff professional development or for a brief presentation at a staff meeting. IMPORTANCE FOR BUSINESSES/CORPORATIONS Learn more than just how to run a business. The skills in "Accent on Essential Life Skills" will strengthen and enrich personal skills and abilities in order to run a business more creatively and solve problems more effectively. The improved skills last a lifetime. (Once you learned how to ride a bike, did you ever forget?) "Accent on Essential Life Skills" is already being used in many ways: In Education * Cooperative Learning teachers can use the manual for training Co-Op students before they go to their business placements * the National Association for Gifted Children in Great Britain is interested in making the book available to teachers, parents and students * school staff in-servicing/professional development * Guidance Counsellors are using it to help academically weak students * a growing number of Gifted Program facilitators/teachers in North America are using the skills in their gifted programs * this is a valuable resource for all home schoolers * in art classes to improve creativity and expression * in English as a Second Language classes to improve reading and writing * skills training as an addition to the curriculum for teachers in training * School-Based Support Teams can use the skills to assist students in academic crisis * a private school in China is introducing the skills training approach to staff and students * it is anticipated that special education schools being built for disabled and traumatized children in Sri Lanka will be staffed with teachers trained to teach the skills * the skills are suitable for most special needs and challenged children * private schools use this book for enrichment or for their gifted classes In Business * a major software company has executives using the book for personal training and improving thinking and creativity skills (see testimonials) * as part of ongoing professional staff development at any level * help rejuvenate and re-energize stressed or burned out teams * further empower employees being considered for promotion * strengthen existing employee skills in creativity, higher-level thinking and problem-solving * individual business people are using the book to improve their skill set in increasingly competitive situations * several business networking groups are interested in the skills training approach for their members * independently-operated business professionals can use the skills to improve their areas of specialty and/or expertise i.e. in law, advertising, sales, design, art * Personal Use * members of an inventors support group are using the skills to improve their abilities * tutors can use the skills in the book to add to and support the special assistance they provide * a handyman is using it to improve his abilities to write a book on repairing things * a portrait artist was taught many of the creativity skills to add to and improve her artistic abilities Other * leadership camp administrators are considering using it as part of their preparations of teen participants * Ontario Association for Bright Children parents have found it valuable in assisting their gifted children to learn * some of the skills are being taught to a 2-year-old granddaughter Contents: Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….. . . . . … . . . . . . . . . Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……... ... . . . . . . . . Part 1 – Self-Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……….. . ix xi 1 1-1 Body Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………. . 1-2 Learning & Living Styles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………. 1-3 Left-Right Brain Integration & Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……... 1-4 Levels of Perception. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………. 1-5 Personality Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… 1-6 Positive Self-Affirmations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……... 1-7 Relaxation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………. 1-8 Self Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……... 1-9 Time Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… 1-10 “Who am I” Videotape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….. 1-11 Other Self-Awareness Skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……….. 1-12 Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….. Part 2 – Researching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………. 2-1 Independent Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….. 2-2 Investigating Backwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….. 2-3 Points of View Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… 2-4 Searching on the Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….. 2-5 Summarizing .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… 2-6 Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… Part 3 – Creativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 Brainstorming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 Forced Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 Free-Flow Writing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Games that Develop Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 Guided Fantasies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6 Inventing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 SCAMPER Model for Creative Thinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8 Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part 4 – Spirituality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1 Being a Part of the Universal Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………... 4-2 Ethics and Moral Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… 4-3 Meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….. 4-4 Personal Philosophy Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….. 4-5 Spiritually Guided Walks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….. 4-6 Success in Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… 4-7 Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……... Part 5 – Higher-Level Thinking 127 5-1 Analyzing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2 Bloom’s Taxonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 Convergent-Divergent Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4 Critical Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 Inductive-Deductive Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 Problem-Solving Models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part 6 – Communication 149 6-1 Advertising. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2 Debate & Logical Argument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3 Essay Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4 Interviewing Skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5 Public Speaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6 Sentence Variety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7 Speed Reading/Writing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8 Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part 7 – Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1 Activism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2 Complaining Effectively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3 Decision-Making Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4 Emotional Maturity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5 Handling Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6 Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7 Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part 8 – Miscellaneous Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |