1. Part ONE:  ‘The Ask’.    From pages 20 to 22 in your “My Story” textbook, I introduce the concept of ‘the ask’.    Please write a well written paragraph explaining your understanding of ‘the ask‘.

2. Part TWO:  Please state if you have or have not had the opportunity to ‘ask’.  If you have had the opportunity and did, in fact, ‘ask’, please share in a separate paragraph how you felt about asking and what the result was.    Jessica did during our networking segment at the end of yesterday’s class with Adriana.

3.  Permission slip:  Make sure you have passed in your permission slip for our field trip to TeeSpring next Friday morning after class.   Bus will leave at 10am.   I anticipate this trip being an exceptional experience.  I know all of you will have done your research on TeeSpring prior to our trip.

1. On the Wall Street Journal infograph I distributed in class today, which one of the four recommendations in ‘How To Project Intelligence’ infograph surprised you the most?   Please state your answer in a COMPLETE SENTENCE.  Thank you.

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2.  After reading the article entitled “The Brand Called ‘YOU’” from the November 2o14 edition of Fast Company Magazine I distributed in class today, please tell me what you are presently doing to develop your personal brand to create your opportunities for success.  Please state your answer in complete, well written sentences.  Thank you.

3.  Please think about our class today on preparing for a successful job or internship interview with Ms Nan Quinlan.   Please list 4 things you will keep in mind as you prepare for your next interview for a job, internship or even college admittance.   As always, please state your answer in complete, well written sentences.    Thank you.

1.   Preparing for your entrepreneurial venture:   Read Activity 6 on page 55 and page 56 in your new textbook “My Story“.   This activity will begin with our tour and meetings with the leaders of the highly successful company, TeeSpring, in Providence, Rhode Island on January 30th.   This activity will enable you to employ many of the skills and attitudes we’ve been developing in class:   networking, branding, collaboration, telling your story, creativity, measured risk taking,  data collection and analysis, value of diversity in your network, stepping out of your comfort zone, hard work, dependability, on-time-all-the-time, social media and putting mistakes and failure in the proper perspective – i.e. opportunity to learn valuable lessons for your development.   I’m excited about your opportunities with this activity.   Start thinking about the team you’ll assemble for this entrepreneurial venture – will you recruit a diverse group of people with diverse skills and perspectives YOU CAN COUNT ON or just a group of friends with no consideration of their skills and attitudes?   How many people do you want on your team – just you?  Two?   Three or more –  what works for you?  You’ll be the leader of the team.   Will your team share the same values and work ethic you have?   Is their creativity identical to yours or is their creativity somewhat different, i.e. diverse?  Your team does not have to be composed of students.  Your team can be any person in your network.  Don’t pick your team yet;  I have some new people I’ll be introducing you in the near future you may want to consider.  Tough decisions to make.   Keep thinking about the success you want for your company when you are deciding who you want on your team.

2.  Read page 1 through page 24 in “My Story“.    Please pay special attention to the section referencing ‘the ask’ on (pages 20 to 22).   Your ability ‘to ask’ will be critical to the success of your entrepreneurial success in Activity 6 and, believe it or not, with most of your endeavors throughout the rest of your life.   How you ask and how you tell your story has a lifetime impact on your success.

3. Share with me any reaction you had, anything you reflected upon, while reading pages 1 through 24 in “My Story“.  As always, you need good sentence structure, no ‘run-on’ sentences, perfect spelling and capitalization and proper grammar.  Please send me your response by Tuesday, January 13, midnight.  Thank you.

4. On page 16 in the “My Story” textbook, in a well written statement, answer the question –  What is Malala Yousafzai‘s WHY?  Please send me your response by Tuesday, January 13, midnight.  Thank you.

5.  I continue to be proud of you.   You all continue to step our of your comfort zone.  I see your networking skills improve each week.  This all shapes your brand:  homework fulfillment, on-time-all-the-time, taking measured risks out of your comfort zone, how you present yourself in each networking opportunity: your smile, eye contact, asking for and presenting your business card, your follow up email or hand written note to each new person you meet, saying ‘thank you’.   Did you hear what Donna Mumma from CVS said about her perception of the Hope brand?   The brand can be the best in the state.  Seguro!  Keep up the good work.

Homework is due by Sunday, January 4th, 2015.   Thank you.  Happy New Year!

Part 1:  Read pages 1 through 30 in “The Future” textbook.  In a well written statement, explain any details in the story that either surprised you or made you question the possibility.   If there is nothing that either surprised you or caused you to question, add a possible development you feel might occur before January 1st, 2100 at 6:15am.

Part 2:  Complete Activity One in “The Future” textbook on page 31 with coraje!!!!!!! and in a well written, grammatically correct paragraph with perfect spelling.

Part 3:  Complete Activity Two in “The Future” textbook on page 32.  With each of the 6 critical 21st century skills listed in this activity, simply explain your present skill level after each skill.  For instance, “Foreign Language“, you might say “I am presently studying Spanish in school or I have purchased the Rosetta Stone Spanish language module.”  Or, you might say “I’m bi-lingual; I am fluent in English and Spanish”.    For another category like “Networking“, you might say “I am actively building a network of successful people with good ethics. I constantly carry my business cards, protect my brand and push myself out of my present comfort zone to meet new people.  I’ve recently added a Director from CVS Health to my network.”  Or, possibly with Computer, you might say “I need to work on my ability to use Excel.  I plan to visit the Khan Academy web site for a tutorial on Excel.”

Part 4:  Share your reaction to the Life Expectancy Analysis infograph appearing in last Thursday’s Wall Street Journal.  Your reaction may be an observation on the countries with the highest and lowest life expectancies.   Or, your reaction may be about countries exhibiting the biggest change in their life expectancies between 1990 and 2013 and your intuition why this change took place.   As always, your reaction must be expressed in a well written paragraph with perfect spelling and proper grammar.

Part 5:   For those students who found someone to give your holiday cookie to, I would appreciate it if you would share the reaction you observed in the person you gave the cookie to.   Thank you for sharing.   I hope you have a happy holiday.   The joy is always in the giving.

1.  Your PERSONAL BRAND:    List 3 adjectives and one skill you hope each person who meets you will associate with you.   Before you send me your email answer, think about the way you’ve written your email.  All people will evaluate your brand not only by the way you present yourself in a meeting or networking event but also how you present yourself in your written correspondence.   The way you write your emails can shape the perception people have of you.   Correct spelling.  Proper grammar.  Good punctuation.  Sentence structure that is easy to read (avoid ‘run-on’ sentences; no more than 2 ideas in each sentence).  Your greeting to the recipient (Hello Ms Smith).  The way you close your email message (do you wish the recipient ‘a good day’ or some other positive wish? (Have a nice holiday, Ms Smith).   Saying ‘please’ and ‘Thank you’.    It can all shape the positive brand you’re hoping to create with your network of successful, good people who could help you with a future job opportunity.).

2.  Please watch this video about a courageous young person who would not give up despite his incredible daily challenges.  I hope this young man’s story inspires you the way it continues to inspire me.

1. Read pages 25 through 45 in your “Story of Hope” textbook. In a well written paragraph with well constructed sentences (avoid run on sentences; only short, concise sentences limited to one to two thoughts) and perfect spelling, capitalization and punctuation, identify something you found out about the Information Age (circa 1980 to the present) that you were not aware of prior to this reading.
2. Please let me know if you have either a laptop, tablet or desktop computer at your home and internet access at your home. I will keep your answer confidential.
3. Watch this video, please. Eduardo Briceno tells a story of successful people.  Mr. Briceño is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mindset Works (http://www.mindsetworks.com), an organization that helps people cultivate a growth mindset culture. In other words, he offers a recipe for achieving success.  One of the stories Mr. Briceno tells is about Josh Waitzkin.  Waitzkin has been called a ‘prodigy’, a genius. Yet, he has often failed.  Waitzkin surprisingly acknowledges his success is, in part, because of his ‘failure’.  If you listen closely to Eduardo Briceno’s words and reflect on his message, you too can ultimately achieve the success you aspire and commit to, due in part, by appreciating ‘failure’ for what it often is, i.e. a gift for getting better.  Your challenge is ‘how well will you use the gift to become better’.  I hope you find this video worth your while.  If you have any questions, please feel comfortable asking me either in class, after class or in an email.  Remember the lesson from our last class – don’t be afraid to ask questions.  They will always have more value towards lifetime success than your answers.