Shoot for the Moon

The Eagle has landed, or it did, on the moon forty four years ago on July 20^th, 1969. 

President Kennedy did not have a dream, nor a vision, nor a vague idea, or a hope to get to the moon.  He had a goal.

President Kennedy told the country in May 25, 1961,

 “…this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

President Kennedy set a tangible, achievable goal and the country responded.

 

If you own any type of computing device, you are a beneficiary of the 1960’s space race to the moon.

The country carefully measured and observed President Kennedy’s goal through the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. 

The Katy Toastmasters club theme this year is “Measure your progress towards achieving your goals.”

Setting tangible, achievable goals and measuring progress towards those goals helps us reach them whether in Toastmasters, professional or personal.  Shoot for the moon.   

 

2013 Fall Club Contest

By Andy Paultanis

 

Competition.

The Olympics.  The  World Cup, the Stanley Cup, the Ryder Cup, the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and the NCAA National Championships.

Competition isn’t limited to athletics.  Turn on any cable television and most reality shows are predicated on competition from Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, Survivor, Toddlers and Tiaras, to cook-offs, fashion design competitions to MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge).

Who can forget their spelling bees in grade school?  Several members of Katy Toastmasters help score high school academic decathlons and speech debates. 

Competition is important because it brings out the best in those who chose to compete.  Participants compete because it is fun.

Each year Katy Toastmasters has two speech contests in the Fall and Spring.  This year our Fall Club Contest will be on Thursday, August 15^th.   We start early because the winner of the club contest then competes against other Toastmaster Clubs at various stages of Area, Division and District levels. The Fall Club Contest will be "Tall Tales."

Everyone seems to have a tall tale about the gigantic fish that got away, the time they climbed Mount Everest with one hand tied behind their back, the time they saw a Big Foot at McDoanlds, their chance encounter with a Mermaid at Galveston or the time Uncle Bob was abducted by Aliens on Highway Six.

 

My Tall Tale would be more cultural, being from Michigan, about how Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe, engaged in a shoving match and created the Grand Canyon in Arizona.  I still believe this to this very day.

 

Below is a link to Toastmasters International with more information about  “Tall Tales”  (thanks Jody White for the link).

Toastmasters Tall Tales

The other venue for the night will be an Evaluation Contest.  One member will give a speech and other members will compete to give the best evaluation of the speech. 

Evaluations of prepared speeches are a critical component to Toastmaster meetings. Prepared speech presentations receive immediate positive and constructive reviews based upon the speech project of a member.

Another component  of the Fall Club Contest is not competition but cooperation.  As with every Katy Toastmaster meeting, it is a team effort of individuals supporting each other by participating in various important roles such as judges, to ballot counter to timers. 

It should be a fun night.  Join us.

 

Dear Prospective Parents

 Presented by Daisy Huang

Competent Communicator Manual
Project 2: Organize Your Speech
Time: Five to Seven Minutes

 





Miss Daisy! Miss Daisy! Look what I did!  Miss Daisy, I need to go to the bathroom! Miss Daisy, my shoes are untied! Miss Daaaaaisy!

Ah, the daily trials of a kindergarten teacher. Such was my life.

Fresh out of college, I joined a program called Teach for America, where I spent my days teaching underprivileged children. I was assigned to teach kindergarten.

I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. What was I thinking? Nothing forces you to mature faster than controlling the chaos created by 30 kindergarteners, all while trying to cram vital information into their brains.

I wore many different hats other than being a teacher. I was part-time parent, when their own parents couldn’t be there for them. Part-time police officer, busting the candy black market on a daily basis. Part-time nutritionist, making sure they didn’t blow their lunch money on doritos. Part-time nurse, bandaging up little booboos and ouchies with spongebob bandaids. And my favorite, part-time janitor, mopping up spills, accidents, and occasionally vomit and pee.

It’s not as bad as I make it sound. Despite my initial fears, I was actually a very good teacher and the kids were adorable.

I don’t have children, and after teaching young children for a few years…I have the strong urge to keep it that way.

But really, even though I don’t have kids of my own, I think I’ve learned a few things about parenting during those years. Today, I would like to reveal some good parenting practices. This is for anyone out there who is planning to spawn, keep this in mind so you don’t drive your child’s future kindergarten teacher up a wall.

Good parenting practice #1: Teach your children how to tie their own shoes. Ah yes, the challenge of tying shoes. Believe it or not, we’re too busy in kindergarten learning how to read, so we don’t have time to teach children the art of lacing up your own shoes. It’s also a huge safety hazard in the busy hallway if kids have their shoes untied. If you can’t teach them how to tie their own shoes, at least get them those cute little Velcro sneakers so they’re not tripping over their own feet all day.

Good parenting practice #2: Teach your children how to wash their hands. As cute as little kids are, let’s face it, they are germ factories. Their hands have more bacteria than you could culture in a petri dish! I can’t even remember the amount of times I observed a kid dig touch the floor and then stick their thumb in their mouths, ick! And then they would get sick. So parents, make it a habit for your kids to wash their hands.

Good parenting practice #3: Teach your children that they are responsible for their own homework. The earlier your kids take responsibility for themselves, the more self-motivated they’ll be and the better they will do in school. Routine is important, set a designated “homework” time. Excellence is the result of developing good habits, and before long, you’ll notice your child automatically doing their own homework without supervision, simply because they are accustomed to the routine.

Good parenting practice #4: Don’t tell your children they’re smart. This goes against everything we know as parents, but praising your child with “Oh Johnny, you’re so smart,” will end up crippling him. And I’ll tell you why. They’ll get it into their heads that they need to appear smart all the time, and thus will go to great lengths to avoid anything that might make them look stupid. They’ll shy away from trying new things, and be more prone to giving up easily. So when Johnny does something correctly, instead of saying, “Wow, Johnny, you’re so smart,” tell him “Wow, Johnny, I liked how you worked hard on that. I like how you didn’t give up until you got the correct solution.” Kids who are told this work harder, have more persistence, and don’t back down when they encounter new problems.  This will set them up for success in life.

So those are my four parenting tips for getting your child ready for kindergarten, for school and life. Follow these and not only will teachers thank you, but your kid will most likely grow up to be well rounded and successful.