Expectations!

I’m opening my mail today. I’ve got this letter from the Alzheimer Society.

 

I turn it over to open it and I’m stumped! No flap to tear open! I’m having difficulty performing a familiar task!

 

I turn the envelope back over and see the flap – on the WRONG side! A very clever demonstration of how we all operate with expectations most of the time and are confused when we encounter something that doesn’t mesh with our expectations! 

As far as I know I’m not showing any Alzheimer’s symptoms – I’m still functioning cognitively as well as I ought to be at 70. But for a moment I was confused. Just a brief moment when I felt what Alzheimer’s patients must feel for much of their day. 

What a clever idea I thought.

I wonder how many other people receiving this letter had a similar reaction? 

P.S. This evening when I was sharing my experience with a friend I SAW the question on the “front” (the address window side of the envelope): “Is it Alzheimer’s Disease?” – referring to my confusion about how to open the envelope – Brilliant!

25 Ways To Ask Your Kids “So How Was School Today?”

In my work as a member of the program development team with Scouts Canada we’ve reached a point where we’re now rolling out the new program — The Canadian Path — and one of the 4 elements is a component of Plan-Do-Review. We know Scouters are likely to say, “we do review” but we know that isn’t the case. Review is more than just asking “How did you like what we did?” “Did it go OK?” 

We’re been developing lists of age appropriate questions to help the adults engage the youth in real discussion about the activities they undertake to help them realize what they’ve learned and as a launch pad for planning new experiences. It’s complicated.

Recently one of the program development team shared with us a news article that applies directly to what we’re trying to have happen in Scouting: 25 Ways To Ask Your Kids “So How Was School Today?” The point isn’t to ask “How was school today?” but to ask reflective questions that allows  a child to think about the day from a different perspective. We’ll probably share the article with Scouters because it will help broaden their repertoire of review questions and turn Review into a learning activity for both adults and kids.