Comments for Or-Tal's Writings

Comment on The Story about the Suspicious Man by Rebecca Rachmany

Rebecca Rachmany — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:07:35 +0000

I have definitely eliminated candidates for having poor appearance in LinkedIn. If they don’t appear in LinkedIn, I am hesitant, but if they do appear, but the entry is carelessly put together, that’s even worse. If you are a bit careless on Facebook, that’s OK, it’s not really a professional network. If you look bad on LinkedIn, that’s not just a sign of carelessness, it’s a sign of poor judgment.

Comment on The Story about the Suspicious Man by Or-Tal

Or-Tal — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:04:27 +0000

Our mutual friend is in a totally different industry. Let me remind you she is dealing with AUTHORS who’s books are mainly in PRINT, while we are talking about not just any hi-tech startup, but specifically one that is aimed at the social networking arena. I am not saying I am looking for a Facebook superhero or a Linkedin cannon, I am simply saying that in this age, and in this arena, you can’t seriously look for a job if you don’t have any networking presence.

By the way, as you know I am conducting another search too. I got some references to people who came out with near zero results in GOOGLE! IN GOOGLE!! This is like a non-existent person to me. It’s like the old signature on the yellow pages ads: אם אתה לא שם אתה לא קיים – If you are not there, then you are not.

Comment on The Story about the Suspicious Man by @Yoav Perry

@Yoav Perry — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:01:38 +0000

Hey Big Sis,

1. My one-eyebrow lifted up and the other down is an endearing look. Everyone says so

2. We don’t actually drop any résumés on the floor

3. While I would always want a person who really “get it” sometime the gifted super-geek who understands the complexities of software architecture and philosophy, frameworks, relational databases, security and 3rd party APIs …has gotten thus far by being passionate about what he does and spending a lot of time in front of the screen rather than schmoozing. What you say may be true about a CEO, Business Development or PR person, but I hardly believe that an aeronautical engineer needs to also be a pilot, or that a chef without reviews doesn’t “get” what good food is about.

As you know, there is someone who both you and I know well, who happen to be one of New York City’s best publicists; she has gotten some of the world’s best selling authors and stars onto Good Morning America, Oprah, 60 minutes, the New York Times and Washington Post. Her Twitter history is 14 tweets and 28 followers. On Facebook, only her real world friends can connect with her. Does it mean she doesn’t get it? I hardly think so. Would Tweeting and Facebook’ing some more improve her business? Probably not.

Comment on Beware the Social Networks! by It’s Kidsville! « Or-Tal’s Writings

It’s Kidsville! « Or-Tal’s Writings — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:49:55 +0000

[...] Susan Greenfield who was quoted on “The Mail”, an article which I already covered in my February post. How young really? My daughter joined on 8th grade. My son at the beginning of his 5th grade. And [...]

Comment on Full Time Job. Think Full. by Or-Tal

Or-Tal — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:58:12 +0000

Thanks, Coach.

Comment on Full Time Job. Think Full. by Ziva Malbin

Ziva Malbin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:50:48 +0000

ההתמסרות שאת מספרת עליה מעוררת השראה. זוהי אכן התמסרות מתוך מעורבות רגשית שהיא מפתח להצלחה מהיותה מובילה להתמקדות והנחישות להתגבר על מכשולים.
נושא נוסף ולא פחות חשוב שאת מעלה הוא נושא הרחבת תפישת העשייה שתכלול גם חשיבה. אכן פעמים רבות הכרחי לקבל את שלב הדגירה כעשייה שהרי דברים גדולים רבים לא יוולדו בהעדרה…

Comment on Mars, Venus and the Social Networks by Ziva Malbin

Ziva Malbin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:01:40 +0000

כל הכבוד על הסקרנות, החקרנות והמחויבות למצוא תשובה לשאלה שמעניינת אותך! אהבתי!

Comment on Full Time Job. Think Full. by Or-Tal

Or-Tal — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:08:08 +0000

Thank you!
I think that many teachers actually do the same. If they are the type of teachers who perceive their job as a creative job, then that creative thinking never sleeps.

Comment on Full Time Job. Think Full. by wmchamberlain

wmchamberlain — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:53:48 +0000

I find it interesting that you are doing for your business what I would love teachers to do, reflectively think about what we are doing. This is not a topic I often hear professionals talking about but it must be the difference between success and failure among many start-ups.

Comment on School Sweat by De-Panther

De-Panther — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:53:00 +0000

זה מזכיר לי למה שנאתי את תקופת הלימודים.

בקשר למקצועות ההומניים(ספרות, תנ”ך, הבעה והייתי מוסיף גם היסטוריה):
לדעתי הם חשובים, אבל לא צריך להכניס בהם כל כך הרבה חומר, לפחות לא למי שמתמקד במקצועות ראליים.
העיקר שאנשים ידעו לכתוב.
אני דיסלקט, ובכלזאת מאוד מפריע לי כשאני רואה פוסטים והודעות ברשת מלאים בשגיאות. אנשים שאני מחשיב אותם כגאונים בתחומים שונים ומתנסחים כמו ילד שרק למד לכתוב, זה ממש מפריע לי.
ועכשיו כשחלק גדול מהתקשורת בין האנשים היא באינטרנט – זה ממש מפריע.

אז שילמדו פחות תנ”ך, שילמדו פחות היסטוריה(בכל מקרה אלו מקצועות שכרגע אתה משנן בהם דברים לפני ומבחן ואחריו שוכח), העיקר שילמדו לקרוא ולכתוב כמו שצריך ושילמדו הבעה.
כשרוב התקשורת מתבצעת בכתב – זה חובה.

ובלי קשר, מקצוע שהייתי מתחיל להנחיל מגיל צעיר – כלכלה. זה היה פותר המון בעיות חברתיות שיש היום

Comment on School Sweat by asher idan

asher idan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:56:37 +0000

המבוגרים יעצו לי להפסיק לצייר נחשי בואה פתוחים או סגורים ובמקום זה להתעניין בגיאוגרפיה, היסטוריה, בחשבון ובדקדוק, וכך ויתרתי בגיל 6 על קריירה מזהירה של צייר… על כן נאלצתי לבחור לי מקצוע ולמדתי (עד כאן מהספר הנסיך הקטן)… להשיק קהילות בפייסבוק

Comment on School Sweat by mike

mike — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:53:08 +0000

Hi Ortal… hope this finds you well.

A very sad post Ortal…. and it seems we have chosen to do this to our children all over the world!

This is adults who have confused-

“harder” with “better”—-
“longer”— with “deeper”–
“school” with “work”—-
“memorization” with “understanding”
“rigor” with “more”

I spend a great deal of my time attempting to teach my children that this…and many other cultural messages are not “TRUTH”!!

This is the behavior of “frightened” adults….. and is really of very little value.

The question for me…. how much of this will i participate in and at what level of concern?

I buffer my kids from this nonsense as often and as much as possible…. we will play the game, but at a level that is of my ( the parents ) choosing.

What i try to focus on is healthy human development….

We and our children are finding that we are living in “toxic cultures”….

What might be done to push back against a system that sees chilren and education as only preparing for ecconomic growth…………

It has taken America a very long time to spread a “bill of rights” to ALL of our citizens… we are still working on it!

Here is a list i found- The Student Bill of Rights-

http://mrpullen.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/the-student-bill-of-rights/

1. All students have the right to learn from a teacher who deeply understands her subject matter and who deeply cares about each individual student in her classroom.

2. All students have the right to be safe throughout each school day.

3. All students have the right to meet their own physical needs during school hours (e.g. bringing a snack, getting a drink, being allowed to use the restroom, etc.).

4. All students have the right to enjoy an unstructured recess time at least once a day.

5. All students have the right to be taught by someone who is not reading from a script.

6. All students have the right to be assessed based on improvement, not just raw performance.

7. All students have the right to be appropriately challenged across all subjects.

8. All students have the right to have some measure of choice with regard to at least some of the topics they will study and the assignments they will complete.

9. All students have the right to receive cutting-edge instruction and to spend significant in-class time focusing on current technologies.

10. All students have the right to maintain a vibrant life outside school without being burdened with large quantities of homework.

Not a bad start…. what would you add or subtract?

Wondering…other parents out there…. what do you think?

be well…. mike

Comment on School Sweat by Hadass Eviatar

Hadass Eviatar — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:50:27 +0000

Good points! My schedule in high school was similar to your daughter’s. Luckily I enjoyed the Bible and grammar so it wasn’t so hard for me. I didn’t have extra math classes, though.

What would happen to your second grader if he just didn’t do some of the homework? Would he flunk second grade? I do tend to limit how much my grade school kids do, because sometimes it is just too much.

Comment on Games are the new School by Or-Tal

Or-Tal — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:08:46 +0000

I must share my recent discovery of Q2L – Quest to Learn – a school, real school, based on games.
It’s a school in New York, about to open in Manhattan in the coming falls, for grades 6-12.
If you want more information – start here: http://www.q2l.org/

Comment on Games are the new School by Or-Tal

Or-Tal — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:13:54 +0000

Wow! Neal, thanks for the detailed reply. This is really insightful for me.
All in moderation is clearly the key phrase in adoption of any feature, let alone when it is new and the experience with it is little, as with games in education now.
I don’t believe games should in any way take over the classroom, but I do believe there are games that can enhance learning. I also think there are many gaming features that can be used in the classroom without turning the classroom into a game. One good example is the ability kids have in games to “do this level again” – and again, and again – until they do it right and can pass to the next level. I have met several teachers who adopted this approach to tests. They will allow the students to take the test again and again until the student is satisfied with the grade.

As for external reinforcement – sure, the ideal situation would be if any students could find his or her internal motivator. But the reality is different. It could be because students are not interested in the particular material presented to them, or because the fail to see the relevancy of a curriculum to real life, or because it’s difficult for them. There could be many reasons. That’s when external reinforcement can contribute. Depending on how and what this reinforcement is, it can translate to an internal motivator in time. Sometimes it justs serves as a kick start. It should definitely not take the place of internal motivators.