Stephen D. Aloia, Ph.D.California State University, Fullerton
“Home of the Mighty Titans”
“The Passionate State of Mind”
If I’m not fired with enthusiasm, I should be fired with enthusiasm
I’ve Always Been A Green Kind of Guy…I’m Irish, I Love Kermit The Frog, and
My favorite color is U.S. Currency Green
If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of
precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios
remaining the same, it would look something like the
following:
If you have a refrigerator, clothes on your back,
a roof overhead and a place to sleep,you are richer than 75%
of this world.If you have money in the bank,
in your wallet, and spare change,you are among the top 8% of the
world’s wealthy.
Makes You Think Appreciate
WonderContemplate…
The words Think and Thank come from the same stem.“Thoughtful people are
thankful”
Nothing Happens By Chance
I believe I am here for a very specific and important reason
We are here for a reason
I must give my kids faith and hope in the future, the skills to be successful and
pride in who they are
It is an insult to catch a fish without knowing how to fish...
(A River Runs Through It)
It is an insult to teach without knowing how to teach…
Successive Approximations?
We sow a thought and reap an actWe sow an act and reap a habit
We sow a habit and reap a characterWe sow a character and reap a
destiny
Thackeray
Confucius vs. AristotleConfucius taught by proverbsAristotle taught by analysis Both gave us a guide to the
“Good Life”
Maxims for LifeNever Give Up – Never SurrenderTo The Pure All Things Are Pure
Actions Speak Louder Than WordsIt’s Better to Give Than To Receive
Where There’s A Will There’s A WayThe Best Is Yet To Come
Chance Favors the Prepared MindHonesty is the Best Policy
Axioms & AphorismsHealth is Wealth
Perfect Practice Makes PerfectPaddle Your Own CanoeCourtesy Costs Nothing
This Too Shall PassOne Lie Makes Many
A Thing of Beauty is A Joy Forever
Scrooge“Are these the shadows of the things that will be
Or are they the shadows of things that may only be?Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if
persevered in, they must lead, said Scrooge.
“But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.Say it is thus with what you show me!
Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me by an altered life?
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
I will live in the past, the present, and the future.The spirits of all three shall strive within me.
I shall not shut out the lessons that they teach.”
Change Matrix(Jacqueline Thousand – CSU San Marcos)
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Change
ClearRealistic
ChallengingDesired
ApplicationAnalysisSynthesis
Evaluation
MeaningfulPurposeIntrinsicExtrinsic
CommitmentTime
SupportOpportunity
LogicalSystematicProceduralPrincipled
Success
Change Matrix(Jacqueline Thousand – CSU San Marcos)
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Change
ClearRealistic
ChallengingDesired
ApplicationAnalysisSynthesis
Evaluation
MeaningfulHave Purpose
IntrinsicExtrinsic
TimeOpportunity
SupportCommitment
LogicalSystematicProceduralPrincipled
Success
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Anxiety
Change Matrix(Jacqueline Thousand – CSU San Marcos)
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Change
ClearRealistic
ChallengingDesired
ApplicationAnalysisSynthesis
Evaluation
MeaningfulHave Purpose
IntrinsicExtrinsic
TimeOpportunity
SupportCommitment
LogicalSystematicProceduralPrincipled
Success
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Frustration
Change Matrix(Jacqueline Thousand – CSU San Marcos)
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Change
ClearRealistic
ChallengingDesired
ApplicationAnalysisSynthesis
Evaluation
MeaningfulHave Purpose
IntrinsicExtrinsic
TimeOpportunity
SupportCommitment
LogicalSystematicProceduralPrincipled
Success
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Anger
Change Matrix(Jacqueline Thousand – CSU San Marcos)
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Change
ClearRealistic
ChallengingDesired
ApplicationAnalysisSynthesis
Evaluation
MeaningfulHave Purpose
IntrinsicExtrinsic
TimeOpportunity
SupportCommitment
LogicalSystematicProceduralPrincipled
Success
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan False Start
Change Matrix(Jacqueline Thousand – CSU San Marcos)
Goals Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Change
ClearRealistic
ChallengingDesired
ApplicationAnalysisSynthesis
Evaluation
MeaningfulHave Purpose
IntrinsicExtrinsic
TimeOpportunity
SupportCommitment
LogicalSystematicProceduralPrincipled
Success
Four Stages of Change
Unconscious IncompetenceConscious IncompetenceConscious Competence
Unconscious Incompetence
Great Model for ChangeBut…
We are creatures who typically seek stability and resist change
“Fight or Flight”
Unless you get …“An offer you can’t refuse”
Change will only be as successful as your desire to change.
For example:Getting in shape
The Power Of A Good Question
It focuses your attentionIt helps eliminate extraneous It draws upon your resources
They Focus on the PositiveThey Count Their Blessings
They See The Glass as Half FullThey See Themselves As Part of
A Greater CauseThey Believe They Can Make A
DifferenceThey Are Grateful for Life
Its All About “An Attitude of Gratitude”
Martin SeligmanMihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Edward DenierSonja Lyubomirsky
Robert EmmonsPositive Psychologists
If that doesn’t do it…Let’s see if we can have a
paradigm shift by viewing our role somewhat metaphorically.
The Teacher As
ArchitectRichard MeierAlbert Kahn
Renzo Piano Kenzo Tange
Ieoh Ming Pei
Gottfried Boehm
Alvarzo Siza
Frank Owen Gehry
Frank Lloyd Wright
Anne of Green GablesAnne Shirley
“Thank you, Miss Stacey, for giving us the chance to make
something of ourselves”
The Village BlacksmithHenry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Thanks, thanks to thee my worthy friend,For the lessons thou hast taught!Thus, at the flaming forge of lifeOur fortunes must be wrought;
Thus, on its sounding anvil shapedEach burning deed and thought!”
“After you understand all about the sun, the stars, and the rotation of the earth, you may
still miss the radiance of a sunset.”Alfred North Whitehead
“Our goal is to stimulate the kind of educational environment that nourishes not only your skills, but also your capacity for awareness, empathy, communication with
your fellow human beings, and an appreciation of a sunset…”
Harold Lyons
Taylor MaliWhat do I make? My Salary?
As a teacher?I make children wonder, question, criticize,
apologize and mean it, take responsibility for their actions, write and write and write, show all their math work, and I make them realize that if
they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed.
You want to know what I make? I make a difference!
Wealth Without Work Pleasure Without Conscience
Knowledge Without CharacterPolitics Without Principles
Commerce Without MoralityScience Without HumanityWorship Without Sacrifice
Getting Rid Of Bad ExperiencesAnthony Robbins Swish Technique
Create the Negative You Attach the Positive You
With Rubber Bands and Pull Back and Let the Positive You Smash Into the Negative You
Martin SeligmanUniversity of Pennsylvania
“Almost every person feels happier when they are with other people.”
“Gratitude Visits” Write a testimonial thanking a
teacher, pastor or grandparent – visiting and read it to him or her.
(Three Month Turbo-Charge)
Words of GratitudeRobert A. Emmons & Joanna Hill
“We have learned from the research that grateful people elicit more
support from others. They cope better, have better health,
and are more socially adaptable.”
Martin SeligmanUniversity of Pennsylvania
“It is in giving that we receive…”“Giving Connects You To Others”
They Give More To Others…“Generosity, humor, gratitude, zest,
and kindness,” are better than “curiosity, love, and learning,” when it comes to establishing a
positive attitude.”
Sonja LyubomirskyUniversity of California, Riverside
Positive People…Count their blessings
Practice acts of kindnessSavor life’s joysThank a mentorLearn to forgive
Invest time and energy in friends and familyTake care of their body
Develop strategies for dealing with stress and hardships(One liners work well) Sonja recommends a
“Count Your Blessings Daily Journal”
Words of GratitudeRobert A. Emmons & Joanna Hill
“There are five places where people all over the world commonly seek purpose”
Work Family
Community The Natural World
Faith
As Teachers grateful peoplelove their work,
feel fulfilled, enjoy being a teacher,
realize they are needed and wanted…
The Past ≠ The Future“Are these the shadows of the things
that will be?Or are they the shadows of things that
may only be?Men’s courses will foreshadow
certain ends, to which, if persevered in,
they must lead, said Scrooge.”A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
Edward DenierUniversity of Illinois
What are your major sources of happiness?
Your Children 77%Your friendships 76%
Contributing to others 75%Your spouse or your love life 73%
Your degree of control over your life 66%Your leisure time 64%
Your relationship with your parents 63%Your religious or spiritual life 62%
Holiday periods such as Christmas and New Years 50%
As A Man ThinkethJames Allen - 1902
“Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which
he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly
mansions of joy, strength, and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought man ascends to
Divine perfection.By the abuse of and wrong application of thought
he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two are all the grades of character
and man is their maker and master.Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul, none is more gladdening
or fruitful of Divine Promise and confidence than this: That man is the master of thought and the maker and shaper of
condition, environment and destiny.”