Category: Book Reviews

As an extension educator with quality needed programing, I was confronted with low program participation.  I question, is it the program topic or the marketing of the program?

Seth Godin is an author, entrepreneur, and a teacher. Through his renowned writing and speaking, Seth has launched one of the most popular blogs in the world.

What I respected most about this book, is it challenged me to think differently about my educational program design. Seth made me realize that my job is to create meetings and programs that encourage and support meaningful participation for every participant.

However, getting the participants in is he first step .

By: Bonnie Collins.  Bonnie is Ag Program Leader for CCE Madison County and  the  the Professional Development Chair for the ESP Lambda Chapter.

2020 was a mind-bending, challenging year for most.  A colleague recently recommended Deep Work, by Cal Newport as I complained that “man, there are so many things getting in the way of my big projects this year”.   I’ve been listening to this one as I walk the dog in the morning – and happy to say – I am inspired.

Newport connects research and practice in this book and shares some boots-on-the-ground suggestions for starting new habits and curbing some not-so-good ones.  In this promo, he shares, “When you’re trying to be productive, are you easily distracted by wandering thoughts or urges? Do you mindlessly open up your favorite website or app, craving novelty or fearing you’re missing out? Do you wish you could focus better, spending hours more per day driving toward your most important goals? Deep Work teaches you how to develop your focus and resist distractions. Focus is like a mental muscle – you need to structure training sessions and push yourself to your mental limit to increase your focus capacity. Implement the strategies in this Deep Work summary, and you’ll be more productive than you’ve ever been.”  Excellent resource, and tips.

 I just read a favorite teaching strategy book, “From Telling to Teaching” as it has been a while and I wanted to reacquaint myself with a some good ideas for lesson planning, motivating learners, and designing to help shift behaviors (instead of designing a lesson to just teach content).

If you are a CCE nutrition education you are likely familiar with the book “From Telling to Teaching” by Dr. Joye Norris as Norris is the originator of what we know as the 4A model of lesson planning, a framework taught to nutrition educators consistently.  In addition to walking through WHY it makes sense for lessons to have these four components:  ANCHOR, ADD, APPLY, AND AWAY, Norris takes the reader through  scenarios for considering how to get to know your learners, invite them warmly to learn with you, and help them walk away excited to apply what they have learned.

The book really makes me want to have more conversations with our CCE educators…   I’m curious and interested – what are your 5 top ways of inviting your participants to “be in the room” with you?   We can learn  so much from one another!

Last year, while searching for sage advice about how to get up earlier in the mornings (and go to bed earlier at night), I stumbled across a blog that I really liked from Laura Vanderkam, a writer, author, and time management specialist.  I enjoyed her writing style and candor about life and getting more of the things done that we really want to be known for.  I ended up buying her book, Off the Clock, and then – because I didn’t always make time to read self-help books, her audiobook of the same title.  I’ve listened to it on work trips or just commuting many times – each time picking up another gem.

One of the most useful exercises that I did, encouraged by Vanderkam’s writings was to track my time.  It isn’t as painful as it sounds, and it is revealing.  I could no longer ignore my habits of trying to do one more thing before getting out the door only to make me late :), or ignore the fact that no matter how hard I try – it takes a full hour to get out the door in the morning.  I have learned that the tasks that feel like are “just a few minutes” are often quite typically 2 hours.  The reality check was helpful.

Even if you are the most organized soul around, I do believe you will find this book interesting and inspiring.

Celeste Carmichael is a Program Specialist for CCE Administration and the Communications Chair for the ESP Lambda Chapter.

Many are familiar with Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability and authenticity. New York State 4-H Educators have been gobbling this up for the last year or two and sharing it with others via webinars and conference workshops. In Dare to Lead Brown takes us into our workplaces. This book helps us to be vulnerable at work and to lean into communication with our teams. Sometimes this communication can be receiving feedback that is challenging to hear. This work reminds us of the importance of challenging interactions and the growth that can happen if we open ourselves up to allow it. One piece I took away from the book is that clear is kind and unclear is unkind. If we are giving someone directions or feedback, we need to be as clear as possible. Sometimes it is difficult to give information in an honest, open, and direct way because we do not want to hurt people’s feeling or insult them. However, we are doing a disservice when we do not dig deep and share the truth as clearly as possible.

For those interested in aiming for behavioral change, there is a self-assessment. It visits the areas of Rumbling with Vulnerability, Living into Our Values, Braving Trust, and Learning to Rise. It would be a good tool to take as a pre and later as a post.

Susan Coyle is a 4-H Educator in Monroe County, and recipient of the 2018 ESP professional development scholarship.

I read Discovering Your True North, by Bill George, for a graduate course, High Performance Management. I am sure I would not have picked the book up off a shelf at the library and thought to read it on my free time. However, I really enjoyed the book and the information in it. Bill George is a former CEO of a large medical device company. While his frame for his workplace is much different than a Cooperative Extension Association, I found his writing relatable. I particularly appreciated the way that George keeps values at the center of work as well as his encouragement of mindfulness and affinity groups. The True North in the title is your values. He encourages discovering and understanding what your true north is and really sticking to honoring it in decisions and actions. It was also a great reminder that I need to continue to work on mindfulness and work-life balance. Lastly, he spoke of the importance of having a few trusted people that you can confide in.

This book comes with an online self-evaluation tool. It is recommended to take the assessment more than once as you journey to becoming an authentic leader. It cover five core areas and reflect if you are having success with change through self-awareness.

Susan Coyle is a 4-H Educator in Monroe County, and recipient of the 2018 ESP professional development scholarship.

This winter I read through Working Out Loud, by John Stepper.  Working Out Loud  is a book about helping to set and reach (personal and work) goals.  I was introduced to the concepts in grad school and have been talking about it for a couple of years.  I enjoyed reading it and sharing the ideas with others at work this year.  The book encourages the reader to set an intention and then provides a process to work towards it.

An intention I’ve set for myself for this year is to get up at 5am each morning – so that I don’t feel so rushed to get out the door, but can slowly own the day.  For me this is not easy – so following some of the Working Out Loud ideas for developing new habits has been helpful.

The book suggests reading what others write about the habit that you are trying to adopt, talk to people around you about what you are learning, call attention to not just what you are learning, but to those that you are learning from, and continuing the process.  The idea of working out loud is critical to an outcome that my work unit (organizational development) values – building collegial mentoring relationships.  As a result – we built the book into the working practice of the Program Development Leadership Cohort we created small groups to help staff to not just learn about working out loud, to actually do it.   Cohort members seem appreciative of the process and the opportunity to share what they are learning.

In conclusion, this one gets two thumbs way up – a great read and a practice for success.