i + 1

Teachers of world (foreign) languages are well-aware of Stephen Krashen's theory of second language acquisition.  His Input hypothesis talks about "i + 1", in which the learners should receive language input that is one step above (+1) their current ability (i).

I like to think of this "i + 1" hypothesis as a life philosophy, too. If we take wherever we are currently ( our "i"), and try to improve it by "+1", we'll constantly be growing. Trying to find ways to bump our lives up a level, especially when we start to feel like we're on auto pilot, will keep life challenging and interesting.

Think about your job, your personal life, your home life, or whatever.  Don't stay on cruise control. Keep looking for your own "i + 1" opportunities!
 

This Very Moment

Pema Chödrön:  "This very moment is the perfect teacher."

This quote by Pema can be hard to accept sometimes.  Like when "this very moment" means the death of someone you love; or the diagnosis of a terminal illness; or finding out your child has a disability; or financial struggles.

Does every event have to teach you something?  Does there always have to be a lesson in times of difficulty?  I don't think so.  Sometimes "this moment" is a lesson.  But other times, a duck is just a duck. 



 

This is how I feel

This is how I feel about cancer.  All. The. Time.  Click here if you know

someone who could use this card.

Your Gift

I loooove this quote by Steve Harvey!

Your Gift: the thing you do the absolute best with the least amount of effort.

For me, that's teaching.  25 years of teaching French and there wasn't one day that I didn't absolutely love what I was doing.  Sure, there were ups and downs, tons of work, hours of grading. But not once did I ever wish I wasn't a teacher. Not once.