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"Adam Savage took a few minutes on Sunday at the Maker Faire Bay Area to share what he feels are the 10 Commandments of Making. Braving the somewhat precarious elevated stage of the crowd-favorite Life-Sized Mousetrap, Adam addressed the audience with bits of wisdom and jewels of experience. It was obvious from the laughter that many of these insights and observations struck close to home."

"How many times have you heard that "practice makes perfect?" Well, a new meta-analysis of dozens of previous studies shows that it is not always true. In this post, Alfie Kohn explains and talks about the consequences of this when it comes to education. Kohn is the author of 13 books about education and human behavior, including "The Schools Our Children Deserve," "The Homework Myth," and "The Myth of the Spoiled Child: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom About Children and Parenting." He lives (actually) in the Boston area and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn.org."

"It just might be that in a society where information is abundant, thinking habits are more important than knowledge. Somewhere beneath wisdom and above the "things" a student knows. Laws of economics say that scarcity increases value. It's no longer information that's scarce, but rather meaningful response to that information. Thought. And thought has a source-a complex set of processes, background knowledge, and schema that we can, as educators think of as cognitive habits. And if they're habits, well, that means they're probably something we can practice at, doesn't it?"

"I've been slowly working my way through some of Maya Angelou's material. Notably, Conversations with Maya Angelou, Letters to my Daughter, and What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self. Through that I've pulled out these 25 quotes that resonated with me. They offer timeless wisdom and advice on everything from what to do with haters to the importance of reading and love. "

"St. Stephen's Episcopal Day School hosted Miami Device, a conference held on their campus November 6 & 7, 2014. Felix Jacomino, the school's Director of Technology, managed to lead a team that pulled off an incredible learning event. The speakers, sessions, food, venue, and even the name tags surpassed all expectations. The opening keynote speaker was Kevin Honeycutt.  Kevin's wisdom, humor, expertise, kindness, charm, and wit set the stage for the two days. I had the privilege of being the closing keynote speaker. I had a great time encouraging educators to give students as much ownership over their devices and learning as possible. "

"Are your knees knocking at the thought of walking into a classroom for the very first time this fall? Have no fear! We asked our friends on Facebook to share their best pearls of wisdom for new teachers, and they generously sent their inspiration, advice and need-to-know strategies. Think of them as your virtual mentors-like all teachers, we're here to help one another succeed!"

ck in 2012, now-former Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats tweeted a series of pearls of narrative wisdom she had picked up from working at the studio over the years. Pixar is responsible for some of the most compelling and engaging stories to hit theaters in the past several years, from Toy Story to Finding Nemo to Wall-E. This week, Imgur user DrClaww reimagined Coats' 22 rules for perfect storytelling accompanied with signature characters from Pixar's portfolio of powerful animated features. If you're a writer or filmmaker, print these out and stick them on your desk.

"Teenagers really get a bad time,' says Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. 'It is amazing how it seems to be totally acceptable - even institutionalised - to parody and demonise them. We laugh at things that mock teenagers, but if you applied those sorts of jokes to any other sector of society, it just wouldn't be acceptable.' Blakemore is a professor of cognitive neuroscience and deputy director of the University College London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. She is sitting in her office behind Russell Square, the heartland of London academia, mounting a strong defence for every teenager in Britain who has slammed a bedroom door, smoked a cigarette, driven a car too fast and even - though she certainly doesn't condone this - given in to the peer pressure that surrounds drugs such as Ecstasy. Society's response to the teenage conviction that 'nobody understands' is often lack of patience. Teenagers, we think, are moody, self-absorbed, reckless, defiant creatures who reject our wisdom in favour of a path of personal sabotage. But the rallying cry from Blakemore - an increasingly powerful voice in the world of international neuroscience, who has given policy advice to the British government - is that teenagers are right. Beyond the world of neuroscientific research, for the most part society does not understand them."

"The revival of the art of the podcast is a splendid thing. All human life in in there, with the (relatively) low-tech delivery of the high falutin'. And for the user, it's an effortless way to receive wisdom from some of the finer minds in a  variety of disciplines, academic and otherwise. So you really can listen yourself smarter, and this little selection can help more than most. Subscribe to this bunch, and get your students to do the same, and you'll be a better, conversationalist and you'll be a downright polymath. So get up to date with these and feel you mind expand."

"You are more than you think you are, says former pro wrestler Mike Kinney -- you just have to find what makes you unique and use it to your advantage. For years Kinney "turned up" the parts of himself that made him special as he invented and perfected his wrestling persona, Cowboy Gator Magraw. In a talk equal parts funny and smart, he brings his wisdom from the ring to everyday life, sharing how we can all live more confidently and reach our full potential."

"Known worldwide for her courage and clarity, Christiane Amanpour has spent the past three decades interviewing business, cultural and political leaders who have shaped history. In conversation with TED Curator Chris Anderson, Amanpour discusses fake news, objectivity in journalism, the leadership vacuum in global politics and more, sharing her wisdom along the way. "Be careful where you get information from," she says. "Unless we are all engaged as global citizens who appreciate the truth, who understand science, empirical evidence and facts, then we are going to be wandering around -- to a potential catastrophe.""

"There ought to be a law limiting people to one use of the term "life-changing" to describe a life event. Had a life-changing cup of coffee this morning? Well, hope it was good because that's the one use you get! If this legislation came to pass, then I would use my allotment on my decision to write about data science. This writing has led directly to 2 data science jobs, altered my career plans, moved me across the country, and ultimately made me more satisfied than when I was a miserable mechanical engineering university student. In 2018, I made a commitment to write on data science and published at least one article per week for a total of 98 posts. It was a year of change for me: a college graduation, 4 jobs, 5 different cities, but the one constant was data science writing. As a culture, we are obsessed by streaks and convinced those who complete them must have gained profound knowledge. Unlike other infatuations, this one may make sense: to do something consistently for an extended period of time, whether that is coding, writing, or staying married, requires impressive commitment. Doing a new thing is easy because our brains crave novelty, but doing the same task over and over once the newness has worn off requires a different level of devotion. Now, to continue the grand tradition of streak completers writing about the wisdom they gained, I'll describe the lessons learned in "The Year of Data Science Writing.""

A recent post by George Couros (author of The innovators Mindset) posed an interesting question about the role that culture plays in shaping the trajectory of an organisation. The traditional wisdom is that culture trumps all but George points to the role that individuals play in shaping and changing culture itself. Is culture perhaps less resilient than we are led to imagine and is it just a consequence of the individuals with the greatest influence? Or, is something else at play here?

"What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? As the director of 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life."

"When you're a designer you never stop learning. No matter if you're a UX designer, a graphic designer, or you specialize in illustrations or hand lettering, there's always something new to learn. That's one of the best parts of being in this field. And if you're struggling, it's helpful to know that there is a huge community of designers out there who are going through the same issues as you are. And who are eager to share their stories and impart their wisdom. Listening to them can help you become a better designer. With that in mind, we have compiled a list of the best design podcasts that should help spark your creativity and get you out of any slumps you may be in."

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." ― Calvin Coolidge Growing up, I had a copy of this quote on my wall. It is one of those things that stuck with me over the years. For a long time I might not have truly appreciated its wisdom. Now as a teacher in times of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, its significance seems to have grown. When we can instantaneous consumers of the all of the worlds information, as we access anything and everything at the speed of light, how do we learn the value of persistence?

"In the documentary Mission: Joy - Finding Happiness in Troubled Times, the Dalai Lama and retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died in 2021, share two lifetimes' worth of wisdom on how to live with joy in troubled times. When writing The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, they asked co-author Doug Abrams to investigate the science of happiness.  "They said, 'This shouldn't be a Buddhist dialogue or a Christian dialogue. This should be about the nature of being human,'" Abrams recalled in the documentary. "They asked me to find out whether what they were saying was confirmed or contradicted by science.""

"Our first entry from our Diverse Teacher Voices program comes from Sharon Davison, a Kindergarten teacher from Vermont who responded to the "Dear First Year Me" prompt. For Sharon, there is some increased significance-or rather, there's significance for each one of us as readers. Sharon has taught for 32 years-and here she is, from 1983 to today, still tweeting, still blogging, still connecting, still serving. Beautiful! Her class twitter account can be found here. Give her a visit. Dear First Year Me, So you have decided to share your energy, strength, perseverance and courage to become a teacher! Congratulations!  You can do it because you care about making a difference.  Just remember to….."