Author Archives: heartfeltassociates

How and Where Do We Learn?

Fareed Zakaria had an interesting discussion this past Sunday on his CNN GPS show about the educational gap in America. His guests, Teach for America Founder Wendy Kopp, Sal Khan of Khan Academy, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman and former New York City school administrator Joel Klein made up the panel. Their discussion wasContinue reading “How and Where Do We Learn?”

Science Interpretation – A Different Approach

I started my career as a biology teacher and honestly enjoyed being in a high school classroom as a teacher. But I found jobs at an outdoor learning center and a state park early in my career and never found my way back to the classroom. Over time, I slowly discovered the difference between scienceContinue reading “Science Interpretation – A Different Approach”

Program Scope Objectives, A Measure of Success

If you’re an interpreter or guide working on the front-line of an agency, organization or tour company, how do you evaluate your success on a daily basis? Is it the number of smiles you receive, the volume of the applause, the “good job” comments made by your peers or supervisors? More than a dozen yearsContinue reading “Program Scope Objectives, A Measure of Success”

Optimism Is a Choice We Make

I used to like the story about 10-year old twin boys at Christmas-time. Their parents explained to a psychologist that one was always optimistic, expecting good things to happen and the other expected the worst, a pessimist. “What can we do to balance their attitudes about life,” they asked. The specialist suggested they disappoint theContinue reading “Optimism Is a Choice We Make”

The Message That Still Inspires

Today is the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Documentarian Ken Burns is urging everyone to memorize the address to internalize it. You can go to his special website at http://www.learntheaddress.org and hear the speech given by Americans of all political stripes, including all five living Presidents of the U.S. The video above records EthanContinue reading “The Message That Still Inspires”

Six Reasons to Train Collaboratively

I recently stood for several minutes at an information desk at a park waiting for one of several workers on duty to notice me and ask to help. They were deeply engaged in personal conversations. Their uniforms indicated that some were employees and others were volunteers. At any park, zoo, museum, historic site, forest, aquariumContinue reading “Six Reasons to Train Collaboratively”

Passages Create Connections

In the 1980s I was managing a nature center in Pueblo, Colorado. A local Italian family asked if they could plant a cottonwood tree along our waterfront in memory of their grandfather. Beaver had cut down many of the cottonwoods over the years, so we allowed the planting and I was amazed when more thanContinue reading “Passages Create Connections”

The Blackfish Movie Makes You Think

CNN recently aired the Blackfish film by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and it has sparked deep conversations among parents, animal lovers and zoo aficionados. Much of the film is about SeaWorld and the 2010 death of Dawn Brancheau, by Tillikum, the 12,000 pound orca she trained. I think this is an important conversation but the reaction toContinue reading “The Blackfish Movie Makes You Think”

Brain Research – Some Thoughts for Interpreters

Sperry’s famous research at Caltech on the “split-brain” was shared with the scientific community in the 1960s, and since then, numerous other studies have been done that provide more insight into the varied specialized functions of different parts of the human brain. These studies suggest that there is no simplistic explanation of “right-brained” and “left-brained”Continue reading “Brain Research – Some Thoughts for Interpreters”