Tuesday, January 31, 2017
The Best Paleo Super Bowl Recipes
The big game is right around the corner. That means I’m busy planning a party with a healthy menu. And I’m sharing the best paleo Super Bowl recipes here to make your life easier!
Below you’ll find everything from low-carb tortilla chips to keto mac and cheese. These paleo Super Bowl recipes are fun, healthy, and like everything I share with you, easy to make. Because I don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen, and I know you don’t either.
When it comes to the big game, I want to serve the best gluten-free recipes, rather than worry about which team wins. Forget field goals. My goal at our Super Bowl party is to make sure all of our guests leave the house stuffed with healthy food. Here’s a roundup of the healthy paleo snacks and low-carb desserts that I’ll serve at our paleo Super Bowl party.
The Best Paleo Super Bowl Recipes
Veggie Sticks with Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing
Curried Almonds
Grain-Free Tortilla Chips with Guacamole
Nacho Cheese Triangles
Mac and Cheese Skillet Casserole
Stuffed Mushrooms (Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry page 57)
Super Bowl Cake Pops
Nut-Free Brownies from (Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry page 117)
Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
What are you doing for the big game? Do you love football? Or are you in it for the snacks and party like me? I’ve heard (from people like my best friend Helen) that they watch the Super Bowl to see the commercials.
This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives that I’ve freshened up. I hope you enjoy the best paleo super bowl recipes and have a blast watching the big game!
The post The Best Paleo Super Bowl Recipes appeared first on Elana's Pantry.
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Sunday, January 29, 2017
Random Thoughts on Sports Performance Training – Installment 26
It's time for the January edition of Random Thoughts on Sports Performance Training. Before I get to it, though, just a friendly reminder that today is also the last day of the introductory $50 off sale on Cressey Sports Performance Innovations. Don't miss out on this chance to get our new resource at a great price. You can learn more HERE.
Since my presentation is "Scapular Control: Implications for Health and High Performance," I thought I'd take an upper extremity approach to this month's cues.
1. If you want to relax the neck, talk or exhale.
One of the biggest mistakes I see athletes make when they're doing upper body work is aggressively recruiting the muscles surrounding the neck. In particular, we know that a hypertonic sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and scalenes can be implicated in not only neck pain, but also headaches and thoracic outlet syndrome.
In most cases, simply telling an athlete to relax or repositioning their head/neck will get the job done. However, another strategy you can employ is to have them exhale through the exertion phase, or simply talk during the set. Both the scalenes and SCM are accessory muscles of inhalation and this forces them to relax a bit so that you can build tension where you really want it.
2. When it comes to scapular control, nothing beats kinesthetic awareness coaching cues.
As I've written at length in the past, I'm a big believer in categorizing all athletes by their dominant learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, and auditory.
Visual learners can watch you demonstrate an exercise, and then go right to it.
Auditory learners can simply hear you say a cue, and then pick up the desired movement or position.
Kinesthetic learners seem to do best when they're actually put in a position to appreciate what it feels like, and then they can crush it.
My experience with teaching scapular positioning has been that option #3 - actually putting someone in the position you want - is the quickest and easiest way to teach someone about scapular positioning. This is likely because:
a. The scapula is a unique bone with some unique movements (upward/downward rotation, anterior/posterior tilt) that aren't familiar to most people
b. You're always wearing a shirt when demonstrating drills, which makes it harder to see these subtle movements as they occur.
When in doubt, put a shoulder blade in the position you desire and then ask an individual to hold it and own it.
3. Uncontrolled end ranges are bad for the scapulothoracic joint, just like every other joint.
Here's something to consider...
We know that if you repeatedly flex and extend the spine to its end-ranges, you'll eventually wind up in trouble - whether it's a herniated disc, stress fracture, or some other pathology.
We also know that if you repeatedly hyperextend an elbow, you'll eventually wind up with loose bodies in the joint, early osteoarthritis, or a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
The point is that it's important to have sufficient range of motion - and stability in that ROM - but not excessive ROM. Hanging out at any end range probably isn't a good idea.
Interestingly, though, we overlook the fact that the scapulothoracic joint - the interaction of the shoulder blade with the rib cage - is subject to these rules. In particular, one issue that sometimes emerges is an excessive "military posture" of scapular adduction (toward the midline) and depression when folks are cued "down and back" without understanding what it really means.
These athletes often get neck/upper back flare-ups when they do a lot of deadlifting, carries, or even too much horizontal pulling. The shoulder blades are so far pulled back that it becomes a faulty stabilization strategy instead of a strong base from which to perform.
4. A PVC dowel is a super affordable way to do a lot of great things for your upper body work.
I was looking at a program I wrote for one of our pro guys yesterday, and realized that we used the PVC dowel for three different exercises in a single training day. That's as much as barbells and dumbbells - but you can buy the piece of PVC for around $1. You won't find a piece of training equipment that offers that kind of bang for your buck - and this realization made me think back to this video CSP coach Greg Robins filmed a few years ago. These options are really just the tip of the iceberg, too:
Have a great Sunday - and don't forget about the CSP Innovations sale that ends tonight! Learn more HERE.
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Saturday, January 28, 2017
PTA Meeting
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
12:30 - 1:30pm
Room 1218
Come along and join our PTA Meeting!
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Friday, January 27, 2017
Mac and Cheese Skillet Casserole
This Keto Mac and Cheese Skillet Casserole is a game changer. We love to eat it for dinner and also serve it on Sundays during football season. Mac and Cheese Skillet Casserole will definitely be part of the spread at our Super Bowl Party.
This easy grain-free casserole recipe makes a wonderful dinner, but is also good for so many other occasions. It’s the perfect one-pot potluck meal, given that it’s chock full of protein and vegetables, easy to make, and delicious.
Keto Mac and Cheese Skillet Casserole has a bit of a kick to it! If you are making this healthy dinner recipe for children, you may want to reduce the smoked paprika.
- 1lb organic grass fed ground beef
- 4cups cooked spaghetti squash noodles
- ½cup heavy cream
- 4 large eggs
- 1tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2cups freshly grated cheddar cheese
-
In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, cook beef until brown
-
Remove from heat and set aside
-
In a large bowl, whisk heavy cream and eggs until smooth
-
Mix in smoked paprika, salt, and pepper
-
Stir in spaghetti squash, parmesan, and 1 cup cheddar
-
Stir in ground beef
-
Transfer mixture back to cast iron skillet
-
Top with remaining cup of cheddar
-
Bake until bubbling around the edges 40-50 minutes
-
Cool 15 minutes
-
Serve
To make this keto casserole recipe even easier, I cook the spaghetti squash the night before. That way I simply brown the meat, toss the ingredients in a bowl, and throw it in the oven for a wonderful grain-free dinner.
If you haven’t cooked spaghetti squash before take a look at my How to Cook Spaghetti Squash guide. In it I show you the easiest way ever to cook this low-carb winter squash.
Here are some of my other easy low-carb keto dinner recipes!
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3 More Reasons We Don’t Have Our Baseball Players Bench Press
Today's guest article comes from Cressey Sports Performance coach Tony Bonvechio. Tony is also one of the contributors to the new Cressey Sports Performance Innovations resource, which is on sale for $50 off through this Sunday at midnight. Enjoy! -EC
I wouldn’t break the Internet if I told you that we don’t use the barbell bench press to train baseball players at Cressey Sports Performance.
As a powerlifter, I love the bench press. It’s a solid choice for general fitness folks, too. But by now, it’s widely accepted in the baseball world that the reward of getting really strong on the bench press is outweighed by the risk the exercise poses to the shoulders and elbows. And if you dig a little deeper, there’s some more specific reasoning why the bench press doesn’t show up in most programs at CSP.
1. It Exacerbates Negative Adaptations to Throwing
When you throw a baseball for a living, it’s likely that a handful of things will happen, including:
• Increased glenohumeral external rotation
• Decreased glenohumeral internal rotation
• Decreased elbow extension
So basically, you get a shoulder that’s loose in the front and tight in the back, along with an elbow that doesn’t straighten all the way. But what happens at the torso and lower body?
• Decreased scapular upward rotation
• Decreased soft tissue quality (lats, rotator cuff, pec major and minor, among others)
• Abnormal spinal curvature (i.e. lumber and/or thoracic hyperextension)
• Decreased hip rotation (most often loss of hip internal rotation)
Now we have scaps and hips that don’t move well, gritty tissue surrounding the shoulder, and a spine that’s stuck in extension. This paints a grim picture and it’s not as bad as it sounds, but what does bench pressing do to help this situation?
The answer? Nothing. In fact, it feeds into many of these dysfunctions.
Coach someone into a proper bench press setup and what do you get? Global spinal extension, scapular retraction and depression, humeral motion WITHOUT scap motion, and heavy loads placed on the pecs, delts, lats and triceps. The stresses are eerily similar to throwing, albeit at slower speeds and heavier loads.
We spend a lot of time each offseason trying to restore movement quality in our baseball players, which means staying away from many of these gross extension patterns and exercises that lock the scaps in place. You can’t justify strength gains at the expense of movement quality. As Gray Cook says, don’t build strength on top of dysfunction.
2. It’s Not Speed- or Plane-Specific
In order for a movement to transfer to sport, it needs to have some degree of specificity. We have to look at the plane in which the movement occurs (sagittal, frontal or transverse) and where the movement falls on the force-velocity curve.
Granted, simply getting stronger has direct transfer to sport without being specific. Otherwise, strength coaches wouldn’t have jobs. However, research shows us that power development is highly plane-specific and that traditional sagittal plane power exercises (jumps, sprints, cleans, snatches, etc.) have limited transfer to throwing a baseball. We've seen plenty of pitchers with sub-20-inch verticals and 90-mile-per-hour fastballs to back this up. Research from Lehman et al. (2012) backed this up as well.
Rather, frontal and transverse plane movements like Heidens and med ball throws work better. So building a fast, crisp bench press might make a football player incredibly powerful, but it won’t transfer much to baseball.
Also, bench pressing is simply too slow to have much transfer. If you look at the force-velocity curve (also known as the strength-speed continuum), throwing a baseball is all the way at the velocity end. It’s a light load moved incredibly fast. Benching is on the other end: a heavy load moved slowly.
High-load, low-speed lifting might benefit some athletes who have spent their entire training career on the pure velocity end (i.e. the travel team athlete who plays all year and never lifts weights), but we can still “fill in” this gap with push-ups and dumbbell bench pressing. And while we can train our athletes to develop force quickly and move heavy weights with ballistic intent, it’s too far removed from baseball to have much of an impact, especially for athletes who are already pretty strong.
3. It’s Not Very Self-Limiting
In my experience as a lifter and coach, I’d wager that most of the poor decisions in the gym occur on or near the bench press. People are much more likely to overestimate their strength capabilities while benching than they are squatting, deadlifting or lunging. If health and performance are our two top priorities, we need to pick exercises that don’t unleash our athletes’ inner meathead.
An incorrectly performed bench press can put an athlete in some lousy positions. Elbows flared, body squirming with hundreds of pounds hovering over their throat; that’s the LAST place I want my athletes. Sure, any heavy exercise can be risky, but a missed rep on a push-up or landmine press has less potential for disaster. Even the dumbbell bench press requires a light enough load to get into the starting position, making it a more self-limiting choice.
If you coach multiple athletes at once, you won’t see every rep of every set. As hard as you might try, it’s impossible to see everything in a high school or college weight room. That said, picking exercises that are self-limiting while still effective makes for a safer training environment. For our athletes at CSP, that means more push-ups and landmine presses than barbell bench variations.
Conclusion
The exclusion of the bench press in our baseball programs goes beyond “it’s dangerous for your shoulders.” Even if coached and performed perfectly, our athletes won’t get as much transfer from it as they would from other pressing exercises.
If you DO bench press and use it with your athletes, you won’t want to miss our newest product: Cressey Sports Performance Innovations. It’s a collection of 11 webinars from the staff members at CSP with tons of great fitness and business content, including my presentation, “10 Things I’ve Learned About the Bench Press.”
CSP Innovations is on sale for $50 off until Sunday at midnight, so click here to grab your copy now!
About the Author
Tony Bonvechio (@BonvecStrength) is a strength and conditioning coach at the Hudson, MA location of Cressey Sports Performance. More of his writing can be found on http://ift.tt/1GHPEKh.
Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive Instant Access to a 47-minute Presentation from Eric Cressey on Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes!
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Thursday, January 26, 2017
This Month In Forensics
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Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Today's Schedule
8:15-8:55 Block F
8:55-9:35 Block H
9:35-9:45 Break/Passing
9:45-10:25 Block G
10:25-11:05 Block E
11:05-11:40 Lunch
11:45-12:25 Mentoring
12:30-1:15 Parade
1:25-1:55 (30 mins) CNY Activities
2:05-2:35 (30 mins) CNY Activities
2:45-3:15 (30 mins) Acrobat Show at Theater
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AQI:381 Level 4
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Calling "Once Upon a Hutong" Cast members
Attention to the following “Once Upon a Hutong” Cast members. Please come to the costume changing area at 12:00 PM on Thursday to change into your parade costume then meet Mrs. Northcott at 12:20 pm at the Black Box.
Characters
Young Prince, Wang Li Jimmy Neel
Xing Fu Kenny Do
Tai Gan Nicky Wong
Mei-Ling Michelle Johnson-Wang (coronation costume)
Empress Dowager Elsie Kibby
Emperor (Nigntingale) Keaton Razik
Animal
Panda Bear Young Soo Kim
Maidens ( Silk Dancers)
Clara Chen
Ava Nunan
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Forensic Focus Forum Round-Up
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Review Of Windows 10 Live Online Training From AccessData
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Magnet AXIOM 1.0.9 Brings Improved Reporting and iCloud Backups
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7 Random Thoughts on Plyometrics
Today's guest article comes from Cressey Sports Performance coach Miguel Aragoncillo. Miguel is also one of the contributors to the new Cressey Sports Performance Innovations resource, which is on sale for $50 off through this Sunday at midnight. Enjoy! -EC
My contribution to CSP Innovations was on the topic of post-activation potentiation (PAP), and you can't talk about PAP without getting knee-deep in a discussion of plyometrics. That said, there were quite a few "spillover" thoughts on this front that I thought would complement my webinar nicely. Here they are:
1. Change the Environment to Improve Outcomes.
Based on what the athlete or individual needs in his or her sprinting capabilities, a different starting position can be used to help teach a different “lesson.” Whether it is drive in the first few yards, arm swing, or even learning how to manage torso position past 10 yards, there are different tools that can be utilized to improve your sprinting ability.
With sprinting (along with several other forms of plyometrics) the position of the set up will greatly affect the outcome of the exercise. As an example, if you begin a sprint with one knee on the ground, you will need to display greater initial strength in order to overcome gravity in comparison to a sprint that starts after shuffling for five yards.
Further, you can use small hurdles at 12 inches or so in order to elicit a higher knee position, or you may simply or kick the hurdles as you move forward.
Much like attacking your specific weaknesses in your strength training and lifting endeavors, the correct tool must be used at the correct time in order to deliver the most appropriate outcome of efficiency, and in this case, power and force development.
2. Change the Words We Use.
While the above point looks to improve upon the external environment in order to help your athletes and clients to move better, the next point aims to improve how your brain processes this information in order to also move better.
Using words in order to describe a movement, motion, or intention behind a movement are all ways we can alter the outcomes of a movement.
Essentially, you can alter the outcomes of a movement by utilizing two techniques: 1) change your words to reflect the intensity of a movement, and 2) provide an external task to be accomplished.
Using words like tap, boom, and zoom, or using claps, or stomps can help reinforce the concept of moving with intention and speed. The purpose of these words will help to improve the rate of force production, along with force absorption if certain awareness is needed when landing as you perform different drills.
3. Physically Demonstrate Exercises.
As a coach, I am always interested whenever someone presents a faster and more efficient way to coach one or more athletes. With this in mind, the point should be driven further that non-verbal cueing is one of the bigger ways to improve upon a movement pattern.
Sure, there are tons of ways for people to learn. Using all five senses is certainly a way to help improve the learning process, but using smell as a way to teach someone to jump may not be the best course of action.
Sometimes a bounding motion is difficult to describe verbally, but showing it will help demonstrate the movement pattern, and describing the emphasis on the desired “hang time” from leg to leg for the movement will reinforce the intention of staying on the ground as little as possible.
Follow up your demonstrations with one or two words (similar to what was described above) to reinforce your intentions and any small details that may not appear to the naked eye.
4. Improve Maximal Strength Before Looking to Improve Maximal Speed.
The off-season is a time to increase strength, as this is the foundation that can create greater speed for our athletes. At Cressey Sports Performance, we do not shy away from deadlifting or squatting the first week our athletes come back.
While the act of deadlifting may feel like a far cry away from increasing sprint time or even further removed from increasing baseball pitching velocity, the take-home message here is that the details found in lifting heavy will contribute to the whole and not take away from the movement pattern. In fact, improving total body maximal strength will eventually lead to a greater rate of force production, as force production is the name of the game when looking to increase speed for your athletes.
5. Using Overload May Not Be the Best Tool for Athletes.
While this may seem contradictory considering the last point, every athlete will respond differently to various percentages of maximal strength. Some athletes 90% of their 1RM relatively quickly, while others move that weight slowly. When speaking about force production, research from Stone et al. (among many others), saw 30% of 1RM maximal strength in lower body exercises as a “sweet spot” for power output with jumping exercises. Further, stronger athletes have greater abilities to express this force production quality.
From the Stone et al (2003):
“... The strong group had higher values at all percentages of 1RM when compared with the weak group. The strong group had their highest power outputs at 40% of 1RM; the weak group had decreasing power outputs as the percentage of 1RM increased.
“... These correlational findings suggest that jumping power may be increased with improvement of the 1RM squat. The fact that the 5 strongest subjects had markedly higher power outputs than the 5 weakest subjects strengthens this finding.”
In this same vein, when we begin to get more specific with our movement patterns, we will eventually need to express faster and faster motions, following the force velocity curve (or absolute strength to absolute speed continuum) as the off-season transitions to pre-season for our athletes!
6. Where the Head Goes, the Body Follows.
If your head, eyes, or other seemingly small detail is “off,” your ability to deliver a movement to its best potential will be thrown off. To this end, your set-up can affect the execution of your movement.
If you’re performing continuous jumps, try looking straight down, and see how you do. Then perform another set looking straight, and then looking up into the air. See what fits best for you and your athletes, and change it based on your drill. The eye and head position will change based on the focus of the drill.
Specifically, when you are looking to improve your distance in a movement such as bounding in a certain amount of jumps, or jumping to increase vertical force production, focusing on an object or space for your vision is the purpose when precision is the name of the game.
7. Competition can breed better output.
This isn’t so much a lesson in plyometrics, but a lesson in performing plyometrics based on your environment and possible training partners.
Perform a drill by yourself, and you can expect to get a certain result - whether it is up to standard is up for debate. Perform a drill in the presence of 10-15 teammates who are all motivating each other can create a better environment, and you can increase your results tenfold. This does not mean to crush your body to the point of no return and getting injured, but having a team or partner(s) to motivate you can improve your outcomes significantly.
How can this be put into action when you are trying to improve from a maximal speed drill? Next time you are in a training rut, see if you can find a few reliable training partners to hold yourself accountable. Challenge yourself or your friends to a few races at the end of a lifting session, whether it is with jumps, bounds, or chasing whoever is at the top of a leaderboard.
For more plyometric training strategies, be sure to check out Miguel's presentation, "Post-Activation Potentiation: Mechanisms, Methods, and Results." It's available as part of our new resource, CSP Innovations, which is in sale for $50 off through this Sunday at midnight. Click here to learn more.
About the Author
Miguel Aragoncillo (@MiggsyBogues) is a strength and conditioning coach at the Hudson, MA location of Cressey Sports Performance. More of his writing can be found on http://ift.tt/1kvtkfb.
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Annual Panda Voting
Don’t forget to vote in the annual Panda Book Awards. Voting open February 6 – 20, 2017
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Tuesday, January 24, 2017
3 Ways Window Treatments Can Make Your Living Room Better
Having a high-end looking home can be difficult, especially if you have a tight decorating budget. Fortunately, there are ways window treatments can help make your living room better. Read on!
Image Source: Flickr
Floor-to-Ceiling Sophistication
Floor-to-ceiling drapes are in high demand right now. Long drapes are more prevalent as homes are being built with higher ceilings and loft spaces become more popular. These drapes offer a sophisticated look, and at many places, can be customized in bright, contemporary hues for an updated appearance. According to Janet Barragan, senior vice president of window design at Curtainworks, “Eighty-four-inch curtains are the U.S. standard, but we now offer 95-inch curtains, and get requests for even longer curtains, from 108 to 120 inches, to accommodate today’s homes.” If you’re searching for long curtains for your windows, don’t be afraid to go custom and get the perfect window treatments that truly fit the unique size of your space. Photo courtesy of Curtain works. Source: HGTV
Establish a Color Palette
The fabric you choose for window treatments helps establish a color palette for the entire room. In this case, the window panels are a solid aqua, but a patterned fabric could be just as influential. The watery shade coordinates with the celadon rug and concrete gray walls, providing a colorful backdrop that’s also soft enough to let bright accents in fuchsia, purple, and pumpkin stand out. Source: BHG
Swing Arm Curtains
Swing arm curtains are one of the more unique window treatment ideas, and they haven’t seen much use in the United States in recent years. They require a special hinged curtain rod that allows you to move the curtain to stand out at a 90-degree angle from the window. Swing arm curtains are a brilliant and surprisingly inexpensive solution for bedrooms where you want to be able to block light easily without having to worry about ruining a carefully pleated or artfully scrunched curtain fabric with daily adjustments. Source: Freshome
If you want to know more about window treatments that can best fit your home style, contact us now!
Contact:
Universal Blinds
601 – 1550 W. 10th Ave
Vancouver, V6J 1Z9
Canada
Phone: (604) 559-1988
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4 Shower Design Ideas
Content originally published and Shared from http://perfectbath.com
Remodeling your bathroom shower can completely change the look of your bathroom. Here are some shower designs ideas that you might want to consider!
Below are 4 shower design ideas:
Add Some Art
This art deco bathroom has inset doors and handmade subway tile on the walls of the shower. The entire room serves as a shower floor, with blue and green tiles. Clear-glass shower deflectors contribute to the clean and open composition of the room. The built-in vanity and tall cabinet ensure personal care. Source: HGTV
Light Up
Nothing brightens your day like a refreshing shower, and this is one of the brightest — with a glass block exterior wall and a skylight, there’s plenty of daylight. Choose a skylight that opens to let humidity escape and help prevent problems with bathroom mold. Source: HouseLogic
Save Some Space
Want a bath and a shower but lack the space in a small bathroom? Rather than squeezing in separate fittings, look for an L-shaped shower bath with one wider end to give you more room for a comfortable shower. Source: IdealHome
Shower Plus Steam Room
A designer shower enclosures walk-in and a steam generator can be combined to create your very own steam room. It’s a simple way of making your own spa. The amenities are critical is this case. It would be wise to include a small window that can be opened when you use the shower alone to let the air circulate. You’ll be able to use this space both as a regular shower and a steam room and you can enjoy relaxing moments right there in your own home. Source: Homedit
Contact:
Perfect Bath
Phone: Toll Free 1-866-843-1641
Calgary, Alberta
Email: info@perfectbath.com
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Chinese New Year Bus arrangements
• The buses and taxis will run a normal service on Thursday 26th January, including ASA buses at 4:40pm and 6:00pm.
• They will not run from Friday 27th January – Friday 3rd February.
• Buses and taxis will recommence their normal service on Monday 6th February.
Staff Buses:
• We will move the Capital Paradise (Afternoon) bus stop from Bus F to Bus B from Monday 6th February.
• The Jiu Xian Condo Bus stop on Staff Bus B is now cancelled.
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New From MS TV News!
Featuring: ISB Chinese New Year, OneDay, That's Random
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HS Sports Season 3
Calling all HS athletes who want to play Badminton, Soccer, Softball, or who want to be part of the Track and Field program! Season 3 officially starts on Wednesday February 8th at 3:45pm in Gym 2. If you are keen to play any of these sports, please come to Gym 2 on that day - there will be a short meeting and then practice will start at 4:15pm. Any questions at all, please drop into the Activities office.
Happy Chinese New year!
GO DRAGONS!
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MS Sports Season 3
Calling all MS athletes who want to play basketball, want to swim or want to be on the track and field team! Season 3 officially starts on Tuesday February 7th at 3:35pm in Gym 2. If you are keen to play any of these sports, please come to Gym 2 right after school on that day - there will be a short meeting and then practice will start at 4:00pm. Any questions at all, please drop into the Activities office.
Happy Chinese New year!
GO DRAGONS!
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Webinar: Complex Digital Data Calls for a New Breed of Data Hunters
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My Struggle
Designing this new course has been enriching and challenging. I have attempted to pull together the past and present (with a glimpse of the future) for these aspiring criminal justice leaders.
My experience with leadership spans half a century: from being a sergeant in the Marines, to developing department-wide training in crowd control while I was still a police officer, being engaged in police reform as a chief of police for over 25 years, as a church leader for two decades and now as a university teacher.
The problem is this. And its about this year’s presidential election. The problem is, for the most part, Donald Trump will not fit into what I have learned about leadership or my paradigm for it.
He now is one of the most visible leaders in the world and his behavior does not comport to my vision, experience, and current study with regard to the practice of leadership.
I say this because I think, more than ever, good leaders today need to stand up and give voice to what’s right; to praise good leadership practices and to critique those which are below standard.
Many of us have learned there is a “best way” to lead people in a free and democratic society over the course of our 200+ year history — I hope President Trump can learn what that is and with humility and patience, practice it. Old dogs can be taught new tricks.
And when we don’t see and experience leadership practices which help people grow and thrive, we must speak out just as the little child did in the well-known story by Hans Christian Anderson about pretense and truth.
The Emperor’s New Clothes: An Excerpt
“‘But he hasn’t got anything on,’ a little child said.
“‘Did you ever hear such innocent prattle?’ said its father. And one person whispered to another what the child had said, ‘He hasn’t anything on. A child says he hasn’t anything on.’
“‘But he hasn’t got anything on!’ the whole town cried out at last.
“The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, ‘This procession has got to go on.’ So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn’t there at all.” [The End.]
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Webinar: What's New In MSAB Kiosk v7.2
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Cressey Sports Performance Innovations is Now Available!
When people ask me for my top business mistake, without hesitation, I answer, “Putting my last name on Cressey Sports Performance.”
When I say this, most folks assume that I’m referring to the fact that it’ll make the business harder to sell way down the road. Or, they recognize that it means everyone will expect me to answer the phone each time someone calls the office. And, these individuals aren’t wrong; these are certainly issues. However, they aren’t the primary source of my frustration with this mistake.
Rather, without even knowing it, putting my name on the facility undermines just how outstanding the rest of our staff at both Cressey Sports Performance facilities are. In fact, my business partner, Pete Dupuis, often refers to himself as “the guy behind the guy” even though he’s one of the brightest business minds in the industry – and every bit as integral to the success of CSP as I am.
This is something I’ve worked hard to remedy – and today, I have an announcement that will continue this momentum in the right direction.
Today, we introduce Cressey Sports Performance Innovations, a collaborative resource from the Cressey Sports Performance team. Eleven staff members from our Hudson, MA and Jupiter, FL facilities have each contributed a presentation “from their wheelhouse” to this product – and we’re really excited with how it turned out. I learned a lot in reviewing the 11+ hours of webinars, and I’m confident you will, too.
This 100% digital/online resource is now available at an introductory $50 off discount through this Sunday at midnight.
For more information, please visit http://ift.tt/2kbiay0.
from Eric Cressey | High Performance Training, Personal Training http://ift.tt/2j99bfc
Statistics Survey
Hello Middle School Students
Our names are Bono, Dong Min, Eric, and Stone. We are from a high school AP statistics class and we are currently performing a survey regarding Middle School students.
We kindly ask if everyone can please check their email now for a survey link. If you have received an email regarding a statistics survey, please fill it out, your feedback will be greatly appreciated! It is the utmost importance to us that everyone who receives the survey replies to the survey with honesty!
Thank you!
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Monday, January 23, 2017
Charity Fashion Show
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One Day Update
One Day Update:
Please check the updated OneDay lists with minor changes from yesterday.
Today after attendance and announcements, you should again go to your OneDay location to meet your OneDay teachers. If you haven't already, you should share your plan with your teachers for OneDay. In sharing so many spaces, it is important that you plan well, so everyone can be successful. It is important too, that your OneDay plan spans the whole day, so make sure you have taken into account all the things you need to do.
Please remember you must remember your OWN materials for OneDay. Please bring them to school with you for OneDay. At this point, you cannot change spaces or topics, so please don't ask. You can always revise or change your goal a bit (even throughout OneDay), but you cannot change your plan entirely.
If you are still not on a list or have found an error on the list, please come see Mrs. Lemley on the couches near the Apple Kiosk on the third floor during homeroom time, otherwise report to your OneDay location (or where your OneDay teachers told you meet).
We can't wait to see all the great things you are going to do on OneDay!
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MATHLETES
MATHLETES who are travelling to Hong Kong next month, don’t forget our meeting at lunch today! We will be sharing more information about our trip and we will run another team competition!
Team 2 won last week! Let’s see if Team 1 can regain their title!
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Change Comes From the Inside Out
After reading the article I reflected back to our change-vision in the heady days of Madison, Wisc. police reform – “Quality from the inside out.” This was what Bregman was taking about, unless we can somehow shape the “hearts and minds” of our officers, we will never get to where we need to be as a profession.
The change process I write about in my book, Arrested Development, and Kenneth Novak, and others describe in their chapter, “Organizational Change” in the 7th edition of Police and Society (Oxford Press, 2017) is dependent on that theory – when we want to do or change something it’s not about what we put on the drawing board but how those in the organization are led.
More and more today, it’s not about the plan, but about how the people who are expected to carry out the plan are engaged, listened to, and treated with respect.
Bregman writes, “Paul (a pseudonym) the CEO of Maxreed, a global publishing company, was having trouble sleeping. Publishing is an industry that’s changing even faster than most other fast-changing industries, but Paul wasn’t awake worrying about his strategy. He had a solid plan that took advantage of new technologies, and the board and his leadership team were aligned around it. Paul and his team had already reorganized the structure — new divisions, revised roles, redesigned processes — to support their strategy.
“So what was Paul worrying about? People.
“Which is precisely what he should be worrying about. However hard it is to devise a smart strategy, it’s ten times harder to get people to execute on that strategy. And a poorly executed strategy, no matter how clever, is worthless…”
He we were to depict the organizational challenge graphically, it would be going from this:
To this:
While most organizations (including police) rely on communication (most often top-down) to make this important realignment. But it’s not enough.
“To deliver stellar results,” Bregman says, “people need to be hyperaligned and laser-focused on the highest-impact actions that will drive the organization’s most important outcomes.” Most of us know that even in the most stable and well-run organization, people are often not aligned with the mission, poorly focused, and even working at cross=purposes to the direction the leader wants the organization to go.
Think for a moment about tightening up your organization’s use of force policy. We all know that issuing a policy change, even engaging in training, is not enough to make is work and be sustained.
Bregman says the most important strategy question you need to answer is: “How can we align everyone’s efforts and help them accomplish the organization’s most important work?”
After 25 years of experimenting with this problem and its question, Bregram designed what he calls “The Big Arrow Process.”
Defining the Big Arrow
- What is the most important outcome to achieve over the next 12 months – the One Most Important Thing?
- If you can answer “yes” to each of these questions, it’s likely that your Big Arrow is on target.
- Will success in the Big Arrow drive the mission of the larger organization?
- Is the Big Arrow supporting, and supported by, your primary organizational goals?
- Will achieving it make a statement to the organization about what’s most important?
- Will it lead to the execution of your strategy?
- Is it the appropriate stretch?
- Are you excited about it?
- Do you have an emotional connection to it?
Along with this kind of outcome clarity, Bregman also created behavioral clarity by identifying the most important behavior that would lead to achieving the outcome and those most capable of leading it.
- What current behavior do we see in the organization that will make driving the Big Arrow harder and make success less likely?
- Then articulate the opposite, which will then be the positive drivers — “Big Arrow behavior.
- Identify the people in the organization who has the greatest capacity to affect the forward movement of the Arrow?
- Who is an “influencer” in the organization?
- Who has an outsize impact on our Big Arrow outcome or behavior?
If this raises your interest in thinking about how you will go about leading a major change in your organization I urge you to read the full article HERE.
What Bregman said aligns very strongly with the Madison way that was very effective in moving a police organization in the early 1980s. What we are really talking about is meeting our employees needs while we improve the ways police services are delivered. And that’s as relevant today as it was 30 years ago!
- Peter Bregman is CEO of Bregman Partners, a company that strengthens leadership in people and in organizations through programs (including the Bregman Leadership Intensive), coaching, and as a consultant to CEOs and their leadership teams. Best-selling author of 18 Minutes, his most recent book is Four Seconds (February 2015).
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Sunday, January 22, 2017
MS Seasonal Swim Program
The MS Seasonal swim program will begin after CNY break! This season is for non-Academy swimmers and serves as a development for budding competitive swimmers or multi-sport individuals that enjoy swimming as well as other sports throughout different seasons. The flyer and tryout form is attached below. If you have any questions, please see: Coach Nic (pool office), Ms. Cox (room 3123), or Coach Tim (ES Library) for more information.
Important Information:
• Tryouts: Tuesday Feb 7th & Thursday Feb 9th. All swimmers will be able to join the team.
• Practices take place every Tuesday and Thursday until March 30th
Practice times:
3:30 – 4:30 (Group 1)
3:30 – 5:45 (Group 2 - By invitation, based on tryout results)
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Gaming to Give
Hello friends, Roots & Shoots is excited to announce ISB’s first ever charity League of Legends tournament!
The tournament will be taking place in the two weeks after Chinese New Year break, with games being played on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 to 6:00, and Sunday afternoons.
The entry fee is 100RMB per person, but the top four teams will receive up to 3200RP per player, among other prizes, and all participants will receive a 4-Win IP Boost.
All proceeds from this tournament will be going to H/Rahula Maha Vidyalaya, ISB’s sister school in Sri Lanka. Since the tsunami hit them in 2004, ISB has been assisting them in the day-to-day functioning of the school, as well as providing support for their curriculum and incorporating community projects.
To sign up, go to the link below, login to your account and click register in the bottom right corner. Each team must have five accounts signed up in order to participate. If you don't have a team of five, you can also sign up using Non-Aligned as your team name and we will try to match you up with a group of five.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact Boris.Wong@student.isb.bj.edu.cn or Joshua.Grulich@student.isb.bj.edu.cn for support.
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Calling following Hutong cast memebers
Attention to the following “Once Upon a Hutong” Cast members. You have a short LUNCH TIME meeting with Mrs. Northcott today (Monday) from 12:30-1:245 PM at the Black Box. Topic: Participation in the CNY Parade.
Characters
Young Prince, Wang Li Jimmy Neel
Xing Fu Kenny Do
Tai Gan Nicky Wong
Mei-Ling Michelle Johnson-Wang (coronation costume)
Empress Dowager Elsie Kibby
Emperor (Nigntingale) Keaton Razik
Animal
Panda Bear Young Soo Kim
Maidens ( Silk Dancers)
Molly Homer
Clara Chen
Ava Nunan
Gina
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Thursday, January 19, 2017
HS Counselor Coffee
How Mindfulness Can Benefit You and Your Teen
Tuesday, January 24
10am - 11am
MPR
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118-150 Robson by Amacon – Plans, Prices, Availability
At a Glance
- prime location at Robson & Cambie streets
- 30-storey mixed-use building
- 125 studio to 3-bedroom condos
- hotel with restaurant & lounge
- 1 block from BC Place Stadium
- 1 block from Vancouver Public Library
- goal of LEED Gold
Where Downtown Meets Yaletown
Canadian developer, Amacon, has proposed to redevelop the site of the Northern Electric Company Building at 118-150 Robson Street into a mixed-use building containing a 120-room hotel, 4,635 sq ft of commercial space, and a residential tower with 125 condominiums. The Art Moderne façade of the heritage building will be restored and re-purposed into retail shops and a hotel, above which a new luxury residential tower will be constructed.
Find Out About New Presales & Get Access to VIP Openings & Special Promotions!
Located where Downtown Vancouver transitions into the residential neighbourhoods surrounding the north shore of False Creek, you’ll have within mere steps of your front door an exceptional range of eateries, shops, professional services, and leisure activities for unparalleled convenience. Revel in the nightlife of Granville Street or cheer on the home team at a BC Lions game in BC Place. Survey the brand name boutiques along Robson Street or enjoy a fine dining experience in one of Yaletown’s eclectic restaurants. Living more is driving less.
Pricing for 118-150 Robson
As this project is in the development application stage, pricing has not yet been finalized. To ensure you are kept up-to-date on this excellent purchase opportunity, we strongly recommend signing up to our VIP list above.
Floor Plans for 118-150 Robson
Current plans envision 125 residential suites, ranging from studios to 3-bedrooms, making this property suitable for families.
Amenities at 118-150 Robson
Residents will enjoy shared use of a fifth floor indoor amenity room and an outdoor area to enjoy fine summer days with family and friends. Have out-of-town guests visiting? What’s more convenient than staying at the attached 120-room hotel and have use of its amenities? So many more conveniences are located just outside your door.
Parking and Storage
Approximately 280 underground parking and 250 bicycle stalls have been proposed for residents, hotel guests, and retail customers. Of these, 56 will be electric vehicle charging stations.
Maintenance Fees at 118-150 Robson
Will be included with release of pricing information.
Developer Team for 118-150 Robson
Amacon, developer of prestigious properties such as Modern on Burrard Street, has partnered with GBL Architects to redevelop the former Downtown Vancouver Catholic Archdiocese property. For over four decades, Amacon has been one of the most influential real estate development and construction firms in Canada. With a spectacular portfolio of landmark developments in Vancouver and Toronto, Amacon has established a highly-regarded reputation for setting the standard in the development industry.
Amacon is driven by passion to design with architectural innovation; a commitment to constructing uncompromising standards of quality and superior craftsmanship; and offering responsive customer care and proven satisfaction. These are the building blocks that define Amacon’s signature developments and new communities.
GBL Architects is a comprehensive, energetic, and diverse firm of architects providing a full range of architectural services to the private and public sectors. The firm has built its reputation on high quality design, tight project management, technical proficiency, financial responsibility, and keen administrative skills.
Each project design is based upon our knowledge of traditional and innovative construction techniques, materials and methods, and our familiarity with the appropriate local codes and approval processes. The considerable number of projects successfully realized by GBL have helped to shape the form and development of communities and neighbourhoods throughout British Columbia.
Expected Completion for 118-150 Robson
TBA.
Are you interested in learning more about other homes in Yaletown, Southeast False Creek, or Chinatown?
Check out these great Yaletown Presales!
The post 118-150 Robson by Amacon – Plans, Prices, Availability appeared first on Mike Stewart Real Estate Specialist 604-763-3136.
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