Quote of the Week
Suggested discussion and writing topics and activities

Spring 2013

Week 1:  The beginning is the most important part of the work.
                   -- Plato

 

Now you’re ready for a great beginning to your semester!

 

 

Week 2:  There is a great difference between knowing and understanding: one can know a lot about something and not really understand it.
                   -- Charles F Kettering

Week 3:  I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
                   -- Martin Luther King Jr.

Week 4:  One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.
                   -- Henry Ford 


Week 5:  Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
                   -- Howard Thurman
Week 6:  The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them. 
                              -- William Lawrence Bragg Week 7:  Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.
                             -- Abraham Lincoln

Week 8:  If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
                            -- Frederick Douglass

Week 9:  Remember our heritage is our power; we can know ourselves and our capacities by seeing that other women have been strong.
                            -- Judy Chicago
 
Week 10:  It’s always too early to quit.
                           -- Norman Vincent Peale

Identify a task, habit, or situation you’d like to quit. Which of the above reactions would you probably choose, and why?


**Important Tip: If you’re enrolled in a class that you may not be able to pass, you might  want to consider withdrawing from it -- this means you will receive a “W” grade for the course. (Note: It’s usually a good idea to talk with your instructor before making your decision.)
For semester-long courses, the withdrawal deadline is March 21, 2013.  If you do not complete a course and/or you don’t officially withdraw from that course, you’ll receive an “F” grade which will affect your GPA, which CAN THEN affect your financial aid and academic standing!
 

Week 11: Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
                          -- Oscar Wilde


Week 12: Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.
                       -- Spanish proverb

If you’re someone who typically puts things off, here’s an activity that might help.

 
Week 13: When you're finished changing, you're finished.
                        -- Benjamin Franklin

Week 14: Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
                         -- Thomas Edison

 

Week 15: We won't have a society if we destroy the environment.
                        -- Margaret Mead

Week 16: If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it.  But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it, even if I did not have the ability in the beginning.

                        -- Mahatma Gandhi                                                                

 

For writing or discussion:

It's the end of the semester, with lots to do. Take a break for a few minutes to look back -- and ahead -- by completing any of the following sentences that fit your experiences. Try to complete at least one "look back" sentence and at least one "look ahead" sentence.

 

Look Back:

 

Look Ahead:


 

 

 

Fall 2012

Week 1:  Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
                     -- Arthur Ashe

What do you bring to college that will help you to succeed?
 Use this quote and these questions as a starting point for getting to know your classmates, or as an opportunity for personal reflection.
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Where are you starting from? That is, where are you in your life?

 Examples:
 - just graduated from HS
 - recently out of military
 - tired of boring jobs
 - finished raising family
 - need a career change
          …or…		 What “assets” (useful things) do you bring with you to Leeward?

 Examples:
 - supportive family or friends
 - a strong drive to succeed (motivation)
 - good study habits
 - curiosity: like to learn new things
 - a part-time job
 - financial aid
          …or…		 What can you do (skills or abilities) that can help you succeed in college?

 Examples:
 - able to make friends (get to know your classmates)
 - willing to ask questions (in class or in the instructor’s office)
 - willing to keep making effort even when it’s hard
 - able to organize study materials for efficient study (avoid wasting time)
 - know how to use a computer
          …or…
 

Week 2:  Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.
                        -- Daniel J. Boorstin

==  ==  ==  ==  ==  ==  ==  ==  ==

Learn how to learn: We learn new things by connecting them with what we already know. This existing knowledge is organized into mental frameworks, known as schema. When you're preparing to learn something new, it's a good idea to "activate your schema" by asking yourself, "How is this new topic related to something else I've already studied or experienced?". This gives the new information something to "stick to."  You can think of it like using velcro, like hanging something on a mental hook, or like plowing a field so the seeds can grow.
 

Week 3:  Change is the end result of all true learning.
                       -- Leo Buscaglia

Discuss or write: What do you expect to learn in this class, and what might change for you as a result of this learning?

Learn how to learn: One tip for using your study time well is to pay attention to your thought processes and level of understanding when you study. For example, if after reading a textbook for 20 minutes, you realize you're just reading the words without comprehending them, this is a signal to take a break. Another example would be noticing that you remember more when you highlight your notes in different colors, or talk to yourself or someone else about the subject, or create flash cards that you carry with you. This type of self-awareness is known as metacognition -- literally, thinking about thinking (meta = about and cognition = thought). It's a habit that anyone can develop.

Activity: This week, try changing something you do when you study. It might be one of the examples above (highlighting notes, talking about the subject, or using flash cards), or something else, like studying without the TV on in the background, or studying with a partner, or using a planner to keep track of your assignments. At the end of the week, reflect on what you changed and decide if you want to continue it for another week.
 

Week 4:  Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.
                       -- Flora Lewis

The languages we use affect the way we think and view the world. One example is the word aloha which is not only used as a greeting that can substitute for “hello” or “goodbye”, but also means “love” in a deep sense which is specific to the Hawaiian culture. Gaining insights into a culture can enrich one’s study of its language, and learning a language can expand one’s understanding of the people who speak it.

Discuss any of the following:

The point of this joke is that Americans are less likely to learn foreign languages than people in many other countries, where it’s not unusual for someone to know two or even three languages. Why do you think language study is less common in the U.S. than elsewhere? How do you think this might affect our relations with people in other countries?


Success Connection workshop: If you’re studying a language or planning to study one, attend the Success Connection workshop on Wed., Sept. 12 on How to Succeed in Foreign Language Courses. You’ll get tips to help you learn the language of your choice, experience ways to make language learning fun, and learn about resources that can help you to succeed. The workshop is from 12:00 - 12:50 in LC-102 (Learning Commons bldg., ground floor, next to the Test Center).
 

Week 5:  Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states.  
                  -- Carol Welch

As this quote expresses, how much or how we move affects how we feel and think. If you exercise, do you feel different (perhaps more positive or more alert) afterwards? Discuss the role of motion in your everyday life; for example, do you participate  in sports, or dance, or work at a job that involves a lot of movement (e.g. construction worker, restaurant server)? Do you agree or disagree with Welch’s view of movement as a sort of “medicine”?

Learn how to learn: A recent article in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, “New brain research propelling advances in teaching” (Sept. 5, 2012), cited a talk by Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist and author of the best-selling book Brain Rules. First, read these excerpts from the article (emphasis added):

Medina talked about movement as an essential ingredient of memory, priming the brain for learning at the molecular and biological levels. The neurological benefits of exercise linger for 2.5 hours, suggesting that interspersing movement throughout the school day can improve academic performance...

The brain is not like a computer hard drive, which stores inputs of new information. Normally, we lose 90 percent of new learning within 60 minutes if it's not used or repeated...In order for new information to be transferred to long-term memory, it needs to be repeated at regular intervals.

..."the more senses you can stimulate at the moment of learning," the more permanent learning becomes.

Try this: This week, apply one of these ideas to your own study by doing one of the following. At the end of the week, decide if you want to continue this for another week.
   

Week 6:  The dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself.
                  -- Rita Emmett

Is there a  task that you are dreading -- something you've been procrastinating about (putting off) but really need to do? What is it?

Try one or more of these tips for beating procrastination:

There are lots of videos on YouTube with tips for procrastinators. Here's one of them: Stop Procrastinating

Week 7: Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
                    -- Helen Keller


Week 8: Science is organized knowledge.
                    -- Herbert Spencer

             You'll be glad you did!

After reading the article or viewing the video, do you think this congressman should be a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, a committee that makes decisions and recommendations regarding laws that affect scientific research funded by the U.S. government? Why or why not?


Week 9: He who teaches children learns more than they do.
                   -- German Proverb

Week 10: Treat your family like friends and your friends like family.
                   -- Proverb

Week 11:  In every job that must be done  There is an element of fun
                    You find the fun and - SNAP! The job’s a game!
                           -- Disney’s Mary Poppins

Sometimes your “job” as a student can feel heavy, and you feel weighed down with exams and assignments. Taking a different approach might help you to lighten up and increase your interest and motivation -- maybe even have some fun -- even while you continue to take your studies seriously. Here are a few suggestions:

Check out some of these websites:
Adjust your attitude:

Week 12:   Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk.
                         -- William Arthur Ward

We live in a changing world, and some changes affect us all. Two current examples of major events with far-reaching results are the Nov. 6 election and the superstorm Sandy that flooded New York, New Jersey and other places on the U.S. east coast. Discuss or write about one of the following:


Week 13: My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.
                      -- George Washington  
 

Week 14: There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.
                    -- Mahatma Gandhi

Week 15:  It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.
                    -- Babe Ruth                                 

 

Week 16:  It always seems impossible until it’s done.
                    -- Nelson Mandela


 

Spring 2012

Week 1: The distance is nothing; it's only the first step that is difficult.
                    -- Marquise du Deffand

As you begin the semester, there are a number of “first steps” that will help you to start the semester well. Try one or more of the following:

Week 2:   People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with         each  other.
                   -- Martin Luther King Jr.  

Week 3:  We have the best government that money can buy.
                   -- Mark Twain

Background information: It costs a lot of money to run for major political offices such as governor, member of Congress, or President. Advertising is the biggest expense, but other costs include pay for staff members, travel expenses, and more. Most politicians cannot pay these costs without help, so they depend on political donations, often from big corporations that want specific actions from the government.

By the time many politicians are elected, they owe favors to many special interest groups such as oil companies or drug companies who have funded their campaigns. This makes it difficult or impossible for them to truly put the public interest first when they are faced with important decisions. For example, a member of Congress who received money from an industry that adds to pollution might be hesitant to vote for legislation that would place controls on that industry to reduce pollution. Many people consider this issue to be at the heart of many of our country’s most serious problems, such as the high cost of health care and environmental problems. They believe that the solution is campaign finance reform -- limiting the amount of money that can be donated to a political campaign.  

Week 4:  The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.
                       -- Dr. Seuss

Reading and children:  Children who are exposed to reading from an early age generally are likely to view the act of reading positively and are more likely to be successful students.

Academic reading: as Dr. Seuss tells us, reading helps us to know and learn more, so we can “go places” in life.  Unfortunately, many students enter college with little knowledge of how to read their textbooks effectively; fortunately, textbook reading is a skill that anyone can learn.

Week 5:  You don’t understand anything until you learn it more than one way.
                   -- Marvin Minsky

Week 6: To me, there is no greater act of courage than being the one who kisses first.
                    -- Janeane Garofalo       

Week 7:  Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
                           -- Malcolm Forbes

Week 8:  It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
                           -- Frederick Douglass

Week 9:  I think the key is for women not to set any limits.
                           -- Martina Navratilova

Week 10:  Feminism's agenda is basic: it asks that women not be forced to choose between public justice and private happiness.
                           -- Susan Faludi     

Week 11:  Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.
                           -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Week 12:  You learn something every day if you pay attention.
                           -- Ray LeBlond 

Week 13:  Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
                            -- Carl Bard

There is almost a month until the end of the semester, so it’s a good time to plan how to end your semester well. Here’s a suggestion for steps to take:

Week 14: The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.
                      -- Chinese Proverb

Week 15: Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen.  Keep in the sunlight. 
                    -- Benjamin Franklin

As you are working on your final papers and projects or preparing for final exams, you may be distracted by worries about the outcome. Here are a few ways to help you take a different view of the situation:

Week 16: There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.
                    -- Jiddu Krishnamurti

 

Fall 2011

Week 1: A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.
                        -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Week 2: Action expresses priorities.
                               -- Mahatma Gandhi 

Week 3: There is no labor a person does that is undignified, if they do it right.
                                                -- Bill Cosby

Week 4: Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity.
                                                      -- Unknown

Week 5: A true friend remembers the song in your heart when you have forgotten the lyrics.
                                                      -- old Cuban saying           

Week 6: If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.  
                                                     -- Noam Chomsky


Week 7: Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.
                                                     -- Mattie Stepanek

Week 8:

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.
                                                     -- Steve Jobs

Week 9:

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.
                                   -- Alice Walker

Week 10:

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.
                                   -- Buddhist saying

Week 11:

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.
                                   -- Joseph Chilton Pearce

Week 12:

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?"
                                   -- Eve Merriam

Week 13:

There's nothing like music to relieve the soul and uplift it.
                                   -- Mickey Hart

Week 14:

If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.
                                   -- Mother Teresa

Week 15:

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.
                                   -- Willie Nelson

Week 16:

Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.
                                    -- Oren Arnold