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Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

A Mindful Moment: Tool 5: Accept People and Life As They Are!

Image by bibigeek. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by bibigeek. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

From now until the end of the school year, each week we will be including a post called A Mindful Moment.  Mindfulness is an emerging topic in libraries as it relates to our own personal wellness, but also as it affects good customer service. If you are at all like me, if you get a list of 12 things to consider at one time, it is just too overwhelming. Therefore, in these weekly posts, we will be providing small bits of information to assist you in moving toward  a more mindful life. All credit for the content goes to Leo Babauta at Fast Company, who believes “a mindful life is worth the effort.” I really, really love the introduction Leo gave to his 12 piece tool set and his explanation of a mindful life. This week, we feature this tool …..

Tool 5: Accept People and Life As They Are

” When I stopped trying to change a loved one, and accepted him for who he was, I was able to just be with him and enjoy my time with him. This acceptance has the same effect for anything you do–accept a co-worker, a child, a spouse, but also accept a “bad” situation, an unpleasant feeling, an annoying sound. When we stop trying to fight the way things are, when we accept what is, we are much more at peace.”

What is this business about a mindful life? Read Leo’s introduction, it will take like one minute and is well worth your time to frame this subject!

Interested in other posts CMLE has done on mindfulness recently?

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

April Productivity Tip

According to the folks at  MakeUseOf, “The time has come where we all make promises to ourselves that we’ll be better, harder, faster, and stronger by the end of 2014. Twelve months is a long time, though, and it can be easy to lose steam over such a long period. What can you do about it? Our approach: break the year down into months and dedicate each month to a particular change. This method lets you internalize one change at a time before moving onto the next one. Front loading all of your resolutions together is just a recipe for being overwhelmed. A common resolution for most working people is to be more productive. If you do it right, by the end of the year you’ll be doing more work in less time!” Credit for the content of these monthly posts goes to Joel Lee, MakeUseOf.

Image by UrbaneWomanMag. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by UrbaneWomanMag. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

April’s Bad Habit: Not Taking Notes

“How much time do you waste trying to decide what you’re going to tackle next? For a lot of folks, deciding what to do can actually take up a good chunk of the day — especially true for those who are more on the indecisive side. Without a clear roadmap of what the day entails, productivity drops through the ground.

Solution: Take notes and take lots of them. Evernote is fantastic for this since it handles notes, to-do lists, syncing across desktop and smartphones, and more. Whenever a new task pops into mind, immediately jot it down in your notes so you don’t forget it. For optimal to-do list productivity, make your list of tasks for tomorrow at the end of today — that way, you can hop right into tomorrow when morning comes without wasting any time. ”

This excerpt is from 12 Productivity Habits To Finally Hack Your Life In The New Year by Joel Lee, MakeUseOf, Jan.1, 2014

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

A Day with Author Richard Rubin

Last of DoughYou are invited to attend a very special event sponsored by Learning Resources Services at St. Cloud State University. On Tuesday, April 8, 2014, Richard Rubin, author of “The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War” will present the story of his research, interviews, and videotapes of nearly three dozen World War I veterans. This presentation is from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the James W. Miller Learning Resources Services building (The Library) at SCSU. Please read on for more details.

It took Richard Rubin months to find just one living American veteran of World War I. He eventually found one. And then another. And another. Three dozen veterans were all that remained, and Rubin interviewed them. His research was done in the United States and France; he searched through archives, private collections, battlefields, literature, propaganda, and even music. These were the final survivors of the millions who made up the American Expeditionary Forces, nineteenth-century men and women living in the twenty-first century. Many kept their stories to themselves for nearly a lifetime, then finally shared them so that these events, these soldiers, and this war would be remembered. Rubin began his research in 2003 and devoted great effort in reaching out to these remaining veterans, in many cases interviewing them two and three times. Their ages ranged from 101 to 113. His book is more than just a war story; it is a story of meditation on character, grace, aging, and memory.

 The Day of Events:

  • The day begins with Rubin meeting with a group of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in HIST 445/545: United States Military History (12:30-1:45) as they study World War I;
  • From 2:00-3:15, Rubin meets with undergraduate and graduate students from a number of disciplines, the common thread being that they will be conducting interviews and/or working with the elderly.
  • After dinner, he will return to the Miller Center Auditorium for his presentation and other activities of the evening, including the Honor Guard from the SCSU ROTC program, songs from the World War I era, and readings by Theatre students of materials from that era found in the SCSU Archives.
  • At the end of the evening, Rubin will sign books (a limited number will be available for sale immediately prior to the presentation) and meet the audience at the Reception, co-hosted by students from our Veterans Resource Center.
Rubin2
Author Richard Rubin

The intent of this invitation was to select some friends of the university (alumni, current and former faculty and staff, and community members) who have an interest in one of the many aspects of history and St. Cloud State University. This event is open to the public; parking is available at the SCSU Parking Ramp, in the Miller Center pay lot, in the C Lot (no fee), or on the street nearby; and the event is free of charge. Pre-registration for this evening event is required by April 3.

To guide us in planning for seating and refreshments, would you please rsvp your intent to attend to either (320) 308-3177 or e-mail cmberndt@stcloudstate.edu. We are looking forward to having you join us for this event.

Sincerely,

Mark Vargas, Dean

Learning Resources Services

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist

Highlights From the MEMO March Conference

MEMOConfThe weather was actually decent and the drive to Duluth was easy as I headed to the Conference; a good time to think after a crazy busy week. There were about 50 people in attendance, and a fair number of them were tech integrationists this year, which added a rich element to the event.

The keynote was Mark Garrison,  Tech Director at White Bear Lake Schools.  He also did a breakout session that was somewhat like being on the Mad Mouse roller coaster! Mark was doing live demos of his favorite 50 online sites, and when something didn’t work, he just backed up, said, “who cares” and moved on. I so admire that quality, no fear about any sort of perfection, just learning and sharing. And, trust me, no one will ever sleep in Mark’s classroom! I only say that in the kindest way, he is a very bright, energized guy, and makes you want to just go out and change the world!

According to Mark….” My MEMO keynote expands on the themes of my TEDx  talk (Burnsville) and examines how concepts like the SAMR swimming pool and bridge to 21st Century pedagogies can help us innovate and change education.” Some of my favorite sound bites from Mark’s keynote  include:

  • “When you are hiring people, Google them. If you find nothing, be alarmed, be very alarmed!
  • Boring stuff on an iPad is still boring stuff…
  • What am I willing to disrupt in order to innovate? Disrupt! Model lifelong learning for students!
  • Most people only wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time. Get rid of all those extra clothes…old stuff keeps you from innovating!”

Check out Mark’s favorite 50 sites by category!

Unconference Resources: The afternoon was an Unconference….thirty minute session topics were suggested and presented by people in attendance, which is always timely and lively. If you want to see what the topics were, go to http://tinyurl.com/omzvnkz. Note: As you look at the topics, notice that you can click on Notes to see what the groups produced on the topic. I would suggest the Makerspaces and Gamification ones for sure! Lots of links and ideas; excited sharing and brainstorming throughout the thirty minutes. And, excellent notetakers too!

Smackdown Tidbits Too! At the end of the conference, participants were asked to share their favorite tools or ideas. And, those items can be reviewed at http://padlet.com/wall/memospring14

It was a wonderful use of a Saturday. A big thanks to MEMO conference planners for putting together a great event, and sharing the content so willingly with everyone, so I can share it so willingly with you!