watermelon vest

watermelon vest
wearing them at least three deep
may just save your life

a scientist and an engineer

lets make engineers
engineers that understand
understand science

permeative learning

bring your learning in
let it permeate your mind
focus and relax

Inspired by Barbara Oakley's TEDx talk at TEDxOaklandUniversity read more on Breakfast With TED


more on Barbara Oakley at http://www.barbaraoakley.com/

happiness happens

happiness happens
it happens when you're present
present in your life

live alive

let out your secrets
share honesty with the world
live life alive

own your life

own the things you'll do
because you do what you own
Its human nature

its just math

engineering 's math
just a bunch of word problems
cancel the units

let them learn

its about the students
its about their engagement
let teachers teach


Students only learn when they are engaged and most standardized test are less than engaging. This Haiku was inspired by my experiences in the classroom both as a student and an instructor combined with something Sir Ken Robinson said on breakfast withe TED. He said we need to get legislation at out of the classroom. Use tests sure but use them to help the teachers not to stigmatize the students.

For more haikus or for a little bit of breakfast with TED you can subscribe to my Youtube Channel.

feedback

say difficult things
listen even when its hard
feedback helps us learn

you get the picture

checked the car windows

not so much with the sun roof
thunder storm wash down

what happened

where has it all gone?
you know, all the weight you lost
well, you exhaled it

Inspired by Breakfast With TED

big change

if you want big change
celebrate your victories
and keep them tiny


Inspired by Breakfast With TED
http://breakfastwithted.blogspot.com/2014/05/steak-and-eggs-with-bj-fogg.html

revel in your failure

embrace your failure
revel in all its glory
learn from it move on

Inspired by Breakfast With TED

pushin with a chain?

you can't push a chain
but if you pull it follows
lead people, don't push




Inspired by breakfast with TED

http://breakfastwithted.blogspot.com/2014/05/slow-carb-with-bob-davids.html

a promise of purpose

http://adambraun.com/

live life on purpose
do not just let it happen
go make an impact


Inspired by breakfast with TED

I think I'll rob a bank

think I'll rob a bank
first I'll become it's CEO
then arrange a bailout


Today's breakfast with TED

begin again

begin again now
by changing a habit
the rest will follow



http://breakfastwithted.blogspot.com/2014/05/change-with-jeni-cross.html

eggs any style

eggs any style
JFK's terminal 5
red eye arrival

Inspired by breakfast and a lack of sleep

happiness forgotten

if memory's king
what's happiness forgotten
well, were you happy?


Inspiration for this talk  came from Daniel Kahneman's TED talk that I wrote about this morning in breakfast with TED

real science

understand the mind
giving your fruit flys cocaine 
now that's real science


This haiku was inspired by this morning's breakfast with ted

academia

summer vacation
now I can get some work done
academia

on struggle

fight when you have to
roll with it when your able
struggle makes you strong

make a better place

live learn teach repeat
spread knowledge around the world
make a better place

break your learning into chunks

ten thousand hours
to learn it like an expert
that's a long long time

live lean

do it on purpose
think measure make corrections
live lean learn learn learn

Inspired by: "This is Lean" - +Niklas Modig , Pär Åhlström

on evolution

use observations
find problems, make adjustments
that's evolution

quality time

once upon a time
two girls helped write a haiku
that's quality time!

the story of enabling

story has power
story engages us all
stories enable

use what you've got

lacking resources?
then try resourcefulness
decide then succeed

love the unknown

thinkin'bout research
if we knew all the answers
there'd be no point

that's OK I'm fine

letting life flow by
missing opportunities
you may never know

small steps

take a deep breath
hold it, hold it, let it out
that's meditation

google plus +1

pages and profiles
slowly figuring it out
reading What the Plus 

learning to google plus

circles, followers
streams, tags, badges, hashtags,
don't forget buzzwords 

why we engineer

we compelled to 
think - design - develop - test
then manufacture 

so you think your writing a book

write write write write write
think I'm gettin the hang of this
time to write some more

on human knowledge

the literature
tell us what's been discovered
discover then write

do we know?

no I do not know
those things that I do not know
that's uncertainty

on Easter

chocolate bunnies 
jelly beans and colored eggs
where is God in this

the zen of thinking

think about thinking
meditation has begun
the zen comes later

on the world oldest profession

filling people's needs
the world's oldest profession
manufacturing

on engineering

engineering's math
just a bunch of word problems
cancel the units

education automation

talk to educate
use video to automate
does this really work?

infinity

ten twenty thirty
counting to infinity 
is this way faster?

early to sleep

dinner is ready
my customers sound asleep
good day at the park

cliché

I know its cliché
rising tides do raise all ships
lets work together

on quitting

how bad can it be?
quitting can be permanent
problems temporary

adapted from:

Quitting is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

                             Lou Holtz

fridays

its fun Friday
I like to do free choice journal
to tell my storys

--contributed by Michelle Bergstrom

deadlines

as deadlines loom close
motivation soars skyward
skill, purhaps not

on peeps

microwave the peeps
watch them grow and grow and grow
then watch them deflate

oh pandora my pandora

really? match dot com
pandora my pandora
please please some new adds

data

the data are cool
measurement helps collect them
plot to understand

carpe diem

today is the day
tomorrow is but a dream
yesterday long gone

på svenska

fan jag vet inte
hur det här ska gå
men jag ska prova

on firewood

they say firewood
heats  the body more than once
I find ... I agree

vernal happiness

spring is in the air
bringing vernal happiness
prob-ly April snow

Target in the background wasn't really by design... 

what's in a PhD?

oh, to know so much
about so very little
the goal PhD

breakfast miracle

chocolate chip cookies
a nestle toll house miracle
saturday breakfast

on surface metrology

surfaces abound
covering the world all round
job security 

understatement

thinking about kids?
they say it changes your life.
wow, understatement!

to haiku

haikus bring focus
haikus change my state of mind
they get me ready


I could let the haikus stand.  If they are any good they should.  On the other hand, many will have a back story that I may not be able to resist telling.  And since this is my blog and I get to do what I want, when I cannot, I won't.

I started writing haikus intermittently last summer after reading (listening to) Leo Babauta's book "The Power of Less"  In the book he notes that if you want to write a haiku you can simply find 17 syllables on your topic, or you can find the 17 most important syllables to express your meaning.

I decided that I would use haiku writing (with the latter technique) as a tool to prepare for lectures.  The plan was to write a haiku within an hour of the start of each lecture that I would give, helping me focus on the topic and content of the lecture.

I've observed the results; anecdotally I know that the lectures I've haikued have been much better than the others.  On top of that the student's will at least remember me. -"you know, he was that crazy guy that spoke in haiku." 

With this blog I intend to post a daily haiku written to get me in the mood for that day's tasks or topics