Blog Bouncing Boon - Choiring to my preaching

It started in TWITTER with this entry

@timoreilly Retweeting @SarahM: Nice perspective from @jeggers on why the financial crisis may provide entrepreneurial opportunity: http://is.gd/7KDO 2
minutes ago from twhirl

I'm not very interested in entrepreneurial opportunities from the economic lemons but curious about the lemonade. The entry was not as interesting to me as a previous post on the side-bar:POVERTY: POOR, DESTITUTION, SCARCITY, DEFICIENCY. and "Blog Action Day" in Life on a shirt. The purpose of Blog Action Day is to bring focus to an issue that matters to all of us by putting the power of blogging behind one topic. This year’s topic is Poverty.
I read through the blog, not totally interested (I'm not an easy sell on how entrepreneural juices connect to economic justice although micro-lending and other very exciting current efforts are catching my attention) but stopped on this response gem:

Nick Siewert October 21st, 2008 at 7:15 am
Great post. I think educational equity and smarter education is a key. As a teacher, I see kids who don’t have any idea what their talents are or how to leverage them or who are thwarted because the talents they have don’t fit or are ground down by cookie cutter school settings. If you like Buckingham’s approach, you have to check out Jenifer Fox’s book Your Child’s Strengths (Viking 2008). She points out that focusing on kids strengths in school is an equity and justice issue. And she shows how to do it.

I went to Amazon and found this Customer Review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Starting them on a Me Inc. journey , August 22, 2008 By Dennis DeWilde "The Performance Connection"
The older we get, the more we realize that life is a journey of discover into who we are; and those who help guide us along that path are called our most honored teachers. In this easy to read tutorial, educator Jenifer Fox relies on stories from her life and her life's work with children to demonstrate the importance of integrating that process into your child's education and then provides the how-to-do manual.
Arguing persuasively against systems that place all comers into a common box and then looks to identify failure (weakness) as the path to growth, Fox reminds us that we are all unique, individual beings with both weaknesses and strengths. Recognizing that our weaknesses are most often the underside of a powerful strength, educator Fox shows us how to use this strength base as a foundation for growth and learning - starting not when we are adults, but starting from an early age by incorporating this concept into our educational institutions. Recognizing that this strength positioning applies not just to students, but also to the teachers, Fox created an Affinities
Program as an alternative to standardized teaching and testing methodologies.

Then returned to the Nick Siewart connection to find out who Nick is, but the name was hyperlinked to this site: http://www.strengthsmovement.com/ which is selling the book and then to Jennifer Fox’s blog

How About a $700 Billion Bail Out For Our Schools?! She wrote my truth so I added my comments. I also found a site for Marcus Buckinham

"Our company's greatest asset is our people!"
It's a nice motto, but it's meaningless without introspection and application. And the truth is, people aren't your greatest asset, unless they're in position to leverage their
greatest strengths - those things they do well consistently and energetically.

Although he's speaking to the private sector, it's the same asset-based message of McKnight et al, and the 'valuing students' message of my organization's Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program.

Though I didn’t find out more about Nick Siewart but got to several blogs that are 'choiring' to my preaching. This 2.0 world is marvelous. Where was the internet when I was doing my graduate school work!

Posters by WORDLE

25 maneras to build your comunidad

I've gotten some requests from new online contacts for advice on how to build online connections. I'm very new to this, so I'm sending you some ideas I just saw today in Chris Brogan's blog. He's one of my online mentors, actually, although we've never met nor had a conversation.

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/25-ways-to-build-your-community/

Here are the first six. Visit Chris' blog and also get in the habit of reading his entries if you are interested in becoming more adept at connecting and networking online.
1. Read at least 100 blogs regularly. Not every post, but a variety. Extra hint: go OUTSIDE your particular passion circle.
2. Write brief, tight, actionable posts that people want to reference later.
3. Don’t ignore the value of linkbait and viral content. Don’t ALWAYS do that, but hey, it can work.
4. Give people your best. I know that sounds trite, but I’m saying don’t charge for the best and give away your crap. That’s a yard sale. Be Tiffany & Co.
5. When you write about people, use LINKS to connect your writing to them. This encourages good neighbor policies.
6. Write great titles that draw people in. (Brian Clark is the master.)

for the rest, the other 19, you have to go to the blog address I listed above.

For those new to my blog, please note that this is for my activist friends who are already adept at organizing, informing and generally being advocates but who are new to the social media world.