News, Reviews & Resources   ||   Issue 100 June 2013 Dear Reader, This month is not a Starlink birthday - it will be 18 years old in November. But w

StarlinkHead

News, Reviews & Resources   ||   Issue 100 June 2013

gifts

Dear Reader,

This month is not a Starlink birthday - it will be 18 years old in November. But we're celebrating anyway. We think it's a bit of a landmark to hit the century issue!

So we hope you'll also find some celebratory gifts among the articles and resources this month.

For the mathematicians among our readers ... we know the numbers don't add up for an 18 year history. But Starlink has changed from a bi-monthly to a monthly publication, we always take a break in January so no issue is published that month - and there have also been a few 'gaps' along the way over the years for reasons beyond my/our control. :)

Cheers
Sue & Chris
BJ Seminars International

Greater Good Science Center
The Science of a Meaningful Life

greatergood

The Greater Good Science Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being, and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society. Core themes are Gratitude, Altruism, Compassion, Empathy, Forgiveness, Happiness and Mindfulness.

The website has a wealth of resources - well worth bookmarking to revisit. On their articles page you can browse the most recent contributions

An 'old' article that doesn't appear on the above page also makes for interesting reading. Entitled 10 Ways to Get Ahead Through Giving, it is written by Adam Grant.

Grant is an organizational psychologist at The Wharton School, where he has studied why some people become successful while others languish. His answer is surprising: The people most likely to rise to the top are often those who give the most to others - people Grant calls “givers,” as opposed to the “takers” who try to get as much as possible from others and the “matchers” who try to give and take in equal amounts. In his article he shares 10 research-tested actions you can take to become a successful giver at your work or in your life.

You may also be interested to visit the Raising Happiness section, which covers articles and resources for parents.

Giving Feedback

feedback

Giving feedback to others - whether your boss, staff on your team, a colleague, a student or even a family member - can be a challenging process, particularly if it's going to be a knotty conversation that includes things you're not happy about along with those you are. Here are a few resources to provide some food for thought and tips for a successful outcome to that conversation.

Here are a few quick tips from the Oxford Learning Institute at the University of Oxford:

What Do You Think & Feel? The Art of Giving Feedback, by Marcia Hughes & James Terrell, discusses six essential components for giving feedback effectively.

Feedback That Fits, by Susan M Brookhart, is specifically written for teachers who are required to give feedback to their students. She provides some great tips on how to do it well - and suit the manner and format of the feedback to the specific situation.

Four Ways to Give Good Feedback is an article by Anne Murphy Paul, from Time Ideas. It suggests four ways to offer effective feedback, drawn from research in cognitive science and psychology.

Here's another article, written by Amy Mindell, which she has called 721 Feedback. It takes a new approach that extends beyond the concept of 360 Degree Feedback, adding three components she calls Consensus Reality, Dreamland and Essence.

And if you ever use the 'sandwich' approach (a negative 'sandwiched' between two positives), here's a word of caution from Roger Schwarz - Does Your Leadership Reduce Learning - along with some tips for becoming a more facilitative leader.

A Pot Pourri of Nonprofit Resources

potpourri

Top Tips to Protect A Not for Profit's Brand
Often the most important asset of a Not for Profit is its brand which not only includes the public’s perception but trade names, domain names, logos and trademarks. NFP Management Solutions Pty Ltd founders Joanne Redburn and Lisa Bundesen offer their top tips on how to protect your Not for Profit brand.

Supporting Those Who Care: Partners in Depression National Program Outcomes
The report draws attention to the potential risk of poor mental health and wellbeing amongst the 2.6 million Australians who care for someone with a mental illness. The national evaluation of the Partners in Depression program demonstrates the need for evidence-based interventions that focus on looking after the mental health and wellbeing of carers.

Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Non-Profit Leadership - 2014
The Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Non-Profit Leadership is for an Australian citizen who is an emerging leader in the charitable NFP sector to undertake a program of research and/or professional development in the U.S for a period of 3-4 months.

Aged Care Innovation Project
Purpose: .. to provide service providers and other industry businesses with access to the experts, research, tools and resources that can deliver workforce development reforms, and assist with redesigning traditional business models and skills mix.

Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority
ACECQA is an independent national authority, based in Sydney. As the name suggests, one of ACECQA’s many roles is to educate and inform the wider community about the importance of improving outcomes in children’s education and care. We also provide governments, the sector and families with access to the most current research to ensure NQF policy and service delivery is in line with best practice across the country. ACECQA guides the implementation of the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care nationally and ensures consistency in delivery.

Public Education Foundation

educationfunding

For anyone who works with young people, The Public Education Foundation (PEF) is a not-for-profit charity dedicated to providing life-changing scholarships to young people in public education ... PEF doesn’t exist to do the job of government and fund core subjects, but to support students with particular educational needs. We focus on removing the barriers to achievement created by social and economic disadvantage or discrimination, and on helping particularly talented students to excel.

The next round of scholarships opens on 29 July. You can also subscribe to their newsletter to receive news about scholarship opportunities as they arise. You'll find the subscribe link towards the bottom of the right hand side bar - for some reason on all pages except the home page. :)

Out and About on the Web

hunger-project

The Hunger Project

 
oscarslaw

Oscar's Law

 
LifeYouCanSave

The Life You Can Save

 
earlylearningassoc

Early Learning Association Australia

For Students ... and possibly the rest of us!

studentresources

Here are some excellent resources for students in relation to financial management - and moving from colleges to careers. And a number of them could be very helpful for some of us who are much older folk as well! :)

The first three are here with many thanks to Evelyn Hill and her students from the Northwest Homeschool Group:

Understanding Practical Money Management
All about what money is, spending and saving, debit and credit card pros and cons.

Financial aid, budgeting worksheets and useful calculators
This site is in the US, so the scholarship and funding sources are not for Australia. But remaining resources on the site are helpful and relevant for Australian students as well.

A Student's Guide to Writing a Resume
Explains how to write a cover letter and resume and includes resources (i.e. resume styles and samples).

And here are a few more sites specifically for Australian students:

Student Finance
Sub-titled getting through University one dollar at a time, this is a website maintained by a young man called Andrew, who says A while ago I decided to give up full time work temporarily to focus on going to University and getting educated. Naturally I jumped on the net and tried to piece together how I was going to be able to afford this significant change in lifestyle. I noticed a absence of quality Australian blogs that help students get through this phase of life comfortably. So I decided to make one myself.

Study Assist
Information about Australian Government assistance for financing tertiary study

Students and Trainees
Australian government site with a wealth of information and other resources in relation to services and payments available for Australian students.

Australia.edu
Excellent collection of resources for overseas students who are studying or wish to study in Australia

Study Australia
Partner site to the previous one, providing information for domestic and overseas students on universities, language schools, course opportunities, places to study and live in Australia.

Resume Writing Australian Style
Article from Kate Southam at CareerOne, and also a video of tips from experienced folk at various recruitment agencies.

The Australian Resume Writer
Software for creating/building a resume. Commercial product, but has an online demo and how to videos - and a trial version to download and check it out. Not too expensive for individual/personal use.

Inspiring Stories

zach-sobiech

Here are some inspiring stories - from the joyous to the deeply moving, We hope you will enjoy them.

First, a heartwarming story about Ross Gundlach, a US Marine who was reunited with a wartime buddy, whom he'd vowed to care for if they each escaped Afghanistan alive.

Miserable & Magical: A Graduation Speech for Paradoxical Times is a graduation address given to students at a private school in Silicon Valley by Nipun Mehta. In his speech, for which he received a standing ovation from the student body, he talks about the paradoxical experience of disconnection in our hyper-connected world. And offers three powerful steps we can take to connect - to give, to receive .. and to dance. There is also a full text of his speech online as well as the video.

Take Your Life Back, an article by Peter Bregman, is a good reminder for all of us to take time to reclaim our lives out of the crazy busyness of today's world. As he says, "our lives depend on it". And, by the same author, If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This.

Finally, My Last Days is a short film about Zach Sobiech, an amazing young man whose shining personality lit up the world around him. You will probably need a box of tissues handy for this one! But it is also a truly inspiring story about the importance of living life to the full. Zach finally succumbed to his cancer and passed away on 20 May this year. In this short film we experience his grace, courage and deep capacity for love and joy in spite of his circumstances. .In his own words, he was indeed a kid who went down fighting, and didn't really lose. He also reminds us all that you don't have to be dying to start living.

From Our Blog

Dates for Your Diary

diary

Visit our Events Calendar to find details of conferences, workshops, training opportunities, exhibitions and special days to celebrate!

For example, in the coming month there are a number of great conferences, seminars and workshops. Or you may like to focus on the environment for our National Tree Day or Schools Tree Day.

Think about getting your eyesight checked out during JulEYE, which is the RANZCO Foundations national awareness month for raising awareness about eye health issues. Or become more aware of the issues facing our Indigenous Australians during NAIDOC week. And don't forget to reach out to others on International Friendship Day.

Go to the Events Calendar for details about all of these and more

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