Today the National Theatre is live-broadcasting their current production of King Lear , starring Simon Russel Beale, to cinemas all over the world. For any of my readers who haven't seen or read King Lear yet, I have attempted to summarize all the important parts here

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Learn how to develop a manly voice with these easy tips.

Change communication need not be complicated. We believe that there are just five simple questions you need to ask when planning to talk about transformation. Over the years I have found that change, or rather transformation programmes, tend to place relatively similar challenges on communicators. Even if the conversation starts with “we need a logo […]

Summer is a time of reflection for me. How about you? I was reflecting today about a term I recently read about called "Toxic Behavior". Hmmm. I decided to revisit the definition of "toxic". www.toxicavengermerchdise.com TOXIC - def. 1. containing or being poisonous, 2. extremely harsh, malicious, or harmful, 3. relating to or being an asset that has lost value. Synonyms: poison, injurious, malignant, unhealthy, hurtful. Lord knows, I don't want anything to do with anything that is toxic. Is there anyone who would like to be described as having toxic behaviors? I think not. Do people with toxic behaviors exist? I believe so. Now, being honest to with myself......have I ever exhibited a toxic behavior? Yes. I mean, yes. We all have at one time or another. None of us is immune. But most people are evolved, balanced, aware, and it happens only rarely in their lives.* Toxic behaviors are damaging. They are attached to a harsh word like "toxic" for a reason. They can cause havoc and chaos within a group of people who work together. We all make mistakes. But, a person with consistent and perpetual toxic behaviors can make you want to retreat to your classroom or even find another job. Toxic behaviors damage relationships, professional success, and the well-being of the individual behaving this way, and to everyone around him or her.* * Quoted from "6 Toxic Behaviors That Push People Away: How to Recognize Them In Yourself and Change Them" by Kathy Caprino, Int'l Women's Coach, Speaker, & Writer But, let's shine the light on the darker side of the coin. Perhaps YOU are the cause of a toxic behavior. If so, know that you are doing more damage to yourself than anyone else. This is not an easy thing to reflect upon. The reality of admitting you are "the cause" of toxic behavior can be a bitter pill to swallow. But the sooner you reflect upon it, the sooner you can neutralize it. Keep this in mind: toxic behavior is negative emotional energy in motion. Whether you are the giver or receiver, it drains energy and adds stress to you and all who are affected. So what is the solution? I wish I came up with this myself, but it was listed in the comments to the original article about this topic. "Environmental pollution does harm biological life. Negative, reactive, and defensive behavior does not happen in a vacuum. The solution to achieving the right ecology is the generosity of understanding, support, and love." - Dennis Brinkley Ecology....I love it! Plant kindness. Nurture it while it grows. Water it. Shed light on it. Fertilize it. But keep in mind....pestilence will kill it.

Top tips from Stephen King's author masterclass, On Writing, gathered in one handy infographic. Infographic: 14 top tips from Stephen King's On Writing

People often see meetings as an inevitable evil. As you can’t get out of it anyway, why not make the experience a little bit easier for everyone? Make meetings more enjoyable, effective and efficient by abiding to these simple etiquette rules.

We all have good days and bad days. For some of us, especially if mental health issues are involved, the bad days can be all-consuming, so when they hit we need to have the coping skills to deal wi…

The image was apparently created by an atheist. But contrary to what some claim, there is no particular reason why its viewpoint ought to be considered

Teenagers play the most important role in our society and to enrich and empower their minds to realize their capabilities, one need to inspire them with the help of Inspirational Quotes. These inspirational quotes help the teens to progress throughout their life. Teens love to imitate their teachers and elders and learn a lot of […]

Writing is half the battle; the other half is made up of coming up with an idea for your article/story/novel/squidoo lens/wizzley page. Here's a few tips on how you can do that!

Learn How To Refocus Your Team During An Organizational Change Process With This Detailed Infographic, Providing Ways To Ease Up Stress, Fear And Much More

Some of us were fortunate and/or resilient enough that we had or developed relationships with a few safe people that we could count on in childhood. Role models that had character and modeled resp…

“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over, instead of craving control over what you don’t.” ~Unknown As you can see in this chart, apologizing falls in the "What I Can Control" circle, but "Others Forgiving Me" doesn't. "Past Mistakes" is outside the circle, but "Trying Again" is inside. Hang tight to the things you can control! Don't give up!

"They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me." ~ Nathaniel Lee In his April 28th blog for the New York Times, the excellent Timothy Egan wrote about "Desert Derangement Syndrome," his take on the state of things in the state of Arizona. At one point he describes members of the "birther" movement as "flat-earthers." When a friend mentioned she wasn't familiar with the term, I began wondering what the Flat Earth Society has been up to; clearly, its once-powerful publicity machine has broken down. The idea that the earth is flat was widely believed until about the 400 B.C., when Aristotle among others proposed that our planet is actually a globe. The fact that Christopher Columbus and then Magellan failed to fall off the earth's edge removed the remaining doubt for most people. The discoid earth notion was revived in the 1800s by British Inventor Samuel Rowbotham, whose interpretations of Biblical passages convinced him that, despite all evidence to the contrary, the Earth really is flat after all. He wrote a book about it, Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe, and attracted a group of ardent followers who formed the Universal Zetetic Society, precursor to the Flat Earth Society. (Are you getting a headache yet?) The image at right is an artist's interpretation of the Society's belief that the earth is a disk and that Antarctica forms an ice wall around its outer limits. In 1956 — yes, that recently — Samuel Shenton, whom Wikipedia describes as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Geographic Society, must have left his peers speechless when he took up Rowbotham's cause and formed the modern-day Flat Earth Society. One might have imagined that space flight, particularly NASA's unforgettable photos of "the big blue marble," would have ended the debate, but this is not the way things work with science deniers. Space flight just gave conspiracy theorists and fellow loonies more fuel. Flat Earth Society members have been among the leading proponents of the notion that the Apollo 13 moon landing in 1969 was staged with the help of Stanley Kubrick. According to Wikipedia, the Flat Earth Society claimed 60 members as of March 2010. I'm sure there would be more, but likely candidates are no doubt too busy obsessing about President Obama's birth certificate and denying climate change. Meanwhile in the loony-loving state of Alaska, an alternate Flat Earth Society has sprung up. I like to think a polar bear with a laptop and a sense of humor is behind it. Please take a moment to enjoy its wonderfully absurd mission statement and an interesting page of "evidence." "There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other." ~ Douglas H. Everett

I had a conversation recently with a colleague, and we agreed that in order to have a classroom with fewer behavior problems, all teachers have to do is enforce two rules: respect yourself and resp…

We are working on telling time in first grade and I wanted to share this cute song in case anyone else is teaching time right now. This is another one of those songs that I have known forever but that I don’t know the origins of- if it’s yours let me know! We’ve been singing […]

These poems have given me the needed words that I could never find to speak myself.

Good character is made up of many qualities. Here’s an ABC list of character traits we can aspire to teach our children.

TweetPin1EmailShare Once you have a really great backstory for your character, you’ll probably feel like drawing a lot of attention to it from the get-go. After all, you worked so... Read more »