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Chicken Sexers, Plane Spotters, and the Elegance of TAGteaching
Neuroscientist David Eagleman’s Incognito mentions two fascinating stories of unexpected learning. Both attest to the mysterious powers of the human brain—and encourage a radical reexamination of how...
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Queen of the Hill: Punishment or Principled Practice?
In general as a coach, I choose to avoid using punishment as a motivator. The method reeks of domination, intimidation, and fear, all of which poison the waters of learning. While punishment may...
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A Positive-Minded Primer on Punishment and Reinforcement–with a Buddhist...
People often misunderstand positive reinforcement because those of us who espouse and employ the technique can get sloppy with our definitions. As we’ve discussed before, for example, the “positive” in...
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A Positive-Minded Primer on Punishment and Reinforcement–with a Buddhist...
[This is the second half of a two-part post. Part 1 can be found here.] Negative Reinforcement (R-) makes a wanted behavior more likely by taking away or reducing something the learner does not enjoy....
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A Deeper Kind of Play—Three New Exercises to Link Improv and Spirituality
A merry band of daring pioneers recently gathered in the coastal hills north of San Francisco for a workshop exploring the many-layered relationship between improvisational theater and spiritual...
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Hey Jude: A Purr-tial Cat-a-log of a Year’s Learning
I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised, but my sabbatical studies in positive reinforcement have changed the way I relate with all animals, both human and other-than-human. That shift has become more...
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The Wisdom of Mistakes
If you want to succeed, embrace failure. A year ago, I would have expected such paradoxical advice to come from a Taoist monk or a Jedi master. Now, after a sabbatical year away from school, I find...
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Under Pressure (The Wisdom of Mistakes Follow-Up Interview)
Shortly after the previous post, The Wisdom of Mistakes, appeared in the Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni magazine, a trio of students in the Video as Visual Art class asked if they could...
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9 Reasons Why Every Conference Needs More Introverted Experiences
Two years ago, I attended the Applied Improvisation Network (AIN) world conference in San Francisco. I had a blast: great games, provocative insights, big ideas, and loads of interaction with amazing...
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More Spontaneity School: Another 10 Improv Games to Enliven the Classroom or...
This fall will mark the first Labor Day in twelve years that I’m not gearing up to teach in a high school classroom, but that doesn’t mean I’m not feeling the excitement of a new school year. New...
View ArticleHost with the Most
My partner Melissa and I went to China Gourmet, one of our local tasty standbys, for dinner tonight. We were excited to see that Kenny, our favorite host had returned after a bit of a hiatus. He’s a...
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Shamu’s Golden Ratio
Shamu student, yes. Shamu teacher too. Marriage researcher John M. Gottman claims that he can predict with 94% accuracy which couples will last happily and which, sadly, will not. Studies seem to prove...
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Easy to Preach, Tough to Practice
The world’s best animal trainers rely on one simple and profound principle: reward movement towards the behavior you want and ignore the rest. The method works with species from dolphins to goldfish,...
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Why We Do Things We Don’t Want to Do
If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated after spending 3 hours online when you just intended to check your e-mail or after giving up—again—on your promise to get outside, meditate, or eat more...
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Don’t Treat My Daughter Like a Dog!
Putting the “short” in “shortstop.” Many teachers and coaches who use TAGteaching—Teaching with Acoustical Guidance—get resistance from parents or colleagues for “clicking” kids. Isn’t that what dog...
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Dolphin Training (part 1 of 2)
The first seed of my sabbatical came at the Loose Moose Theater Company’s International Improvisation Summer School two years ago in Calgary, Alberta. One of our teachers, Shawn Kinley, introduced the...
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Dolphin Training (part 2 of 2)
(This post continues from the previous one. To read that entry first, click here.) Why not go with dolphin training insights? The Dolphin Training game shows us how much fun–and success–we can have...
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Spontaneity School: 10 Improv Games to Develop Courage, Compassion and...
Want to learn the kind of presence and activities described here? Join us for a residential retreat! Monster Baby: Live! June 9-14, Mere Point, ME Or subscribe to the new Monster Baby podcast by...
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Helping Goldilocks Grow
Goldilocks knocks at the door of learning.…“The New Winston Primer Manual” by Sidney G. Firman and Ethel Maltby Gehres. Published by The John C. Winston Co., 1928. Illustrated by Frederick Richardson....
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Some Questions About Praise, Performance, and Privilege
What to do with talent-based praise?—Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net Offering praise for inborn talent feeds a fixed mindset that can trigger self-doubt, weaken resolve, and reduce resiliency. In...
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