Inside View

Why Friends Enjoy Reading

SOMETIMES I ANSWER questions about the 300 hard cover books we have in our home. I draw my answers from friends who have read more than 10 books during the previous 12 months. Friends who read help me understand why I enjoy reading.

Snippets about Leadership in my Second Brain #cong21

I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS about leadership bubbling up inside my second brain. Leadership is a prime topic following me from my days as an Air Force officer and it's the main feature during Congregation 2021.

Listening to pandemic survivors #COVID19

I HAVE BOOKS on my shelves that teach me lessons from generations ago. One of those books is written by Thucydides who explains how the citizens of Athens survived a major pandemic in the fifth century. The story is wonderfully told during a two part Ideas Podcast from the CBC. (Subscribe to Ideas from the CBC.)

Peering Inside Trump's Broken Mind

LIKE MANY AMERICANS, I struggle to pull away from the dumpster fire that is the Trump Presidency. But I can't because Donald's sociopathy is a matter of American national security. To get an evidence-based insight to the one particular psyche that threatens the American way of life, I joined a million others and bought Too Much and Never Enough. RECOMMENDED.

Getting Paid to Read

I HAVE A 12 YR OLD daughter who reads 300 pages a day because she loves the written word. I plan to pay her a tenner whenever she ploughs through a recommended text that we can use as a springboard for a recorded discussion. We have a big collection of Young Adult titles. I also want to introduce Mia to some selections that show her more about the life I had in the States.

The Pandemic Made Me Read Better

ONE OF THE BIGGEST revelations of this era of social isolation is that when people follow rules of social distancing they often rediscover vitality close at hand. In my case, social isolation has encouraged me to read more.

I haven't read more of Facebook but I have scrolled deep into Instagram's grid--the place where I find more words than images. I also read several pages deep into two of my curated lists on Twitter. And I spend more time--much more time--reading content I've paid to see through The Atlantic, The Irish Times, The New York Times, Tipperary Live, and the Washington Post.

The Virtual and Physical Layers of Community h/t dermotcasey #cong19

LIKE DERMOT CASEY, I believe every vibrant community has both an authentic virtual layer underpinning its physical real world presence. I suspect this idea will emerge as a talking point during #cong19, an unconference with a theme of "community". I met up with @dermotcasey in Dublin to chat about several ideas that form the core of Congversation 06, a podcast supporting people I've met during huddles in Cong, County Mayo every November.

Congversation #6 with Dermot Casey

Gen Z Arrival Day

A FEW WEEKS AGO, I saw Derek Baird happily announce the publication date of The Gen Z Frequency and today I got my copy! It's published by Kogan Page.

Five Star Timeless Learning h/t @irasocol #edchatie

I RECEIVED A five-star addition to my professional library in the form of Timeless Learning by Ira Socol, Pam Moran, and Chad Ratliff. It's an essential text for the advocacy of makerspaces in education.

Discussing The Holos

ONE OF THE BEST features of teaching at third level is getting a new perspective on important thoughts. Today, I saw a perspective of The Holos as shared by Robert Irvine during an Emerging Trends module in the Limerick Institute of Technology.