I Won a Book!

I won a book! Coming from someone that rarely wins anything, it was indeed exciting news to learn I had won. This was through my participation on the Society of Word of Mouth (SWOM), which is a social network for those interested in word of mouth marketing.

The brand new, signed, hardcover book I won is David Vinjamuri's Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands. What hooked me is his fantastic Chapter 2, which was offered as a free pdf download on SWOM. In this chapter, David presents six rules successful branders and entrepreneurs tend to utilize on a consistent basis.

Seven remaining chapters of the book each detail a success story that supports these six rules, and they are case studies of familiar/well-known brands like J. Peterman, craigslist, Burt's Bees, and more. One of the best aspects of this book is its easy readability. This book isn't a dry textbook style read, but rather reads almost biographical. David really gets in to what makes these entrepreneurs tick, and presents it in an enjoyable manner.

While I don't feel like I have come away with insight that will necessarily take my career to its next level, I do think that the information introduced is plausible and practical, and I recommend this book to anyone interested in marketing or branding.

David blogs at Accidental Branding and ThirdWay Advertising Blog.

It Finally Happened

It finally happened. At the beginning of this school year, I posted a blog entry voicing my concerns over my daughter’s elementary school not issuing take home textbooks to its 5th grade population (see post entitled Wanting What’s Best for Our Kids). Following the blog, I received numerous comments and assurance from teachers, parents, and administrators not to worry, that they knew what they were doing and it would be ok. My daughter will still receive a good education I was told.

Initially, I asked my daughter to save every piece of schoolwork she did and to keep it in a binder. When the need to reference the binder did not occur, I gradually became more and more comfortable with the idea of no take home class books. Maybe this was working. Maybe the students only needed a classroom copy of the textbooks.

Until last night. My daughter brought home work last night that is typically done in the classroom. And why is it done in the classroom you might ask? Because it is a series of science-related questions that she is to look up and answer from the textbook! Evidently they ran out of time to do the work in class, and so the work was assigned as homework. Did the teacher forget? We have no textbook at home!

My daughter is fortunate in that we have a computer at home. Together we were able to research and answer the questions using the internet. I don’t know what students without home computers did to complete their assignment. The questions were difficult…

Draw and label the constellation Ursa Major.
What is the difference between a meteoroid and a comet?
What are two methods of describing brightness in a star?

The only question I could answer for certain without researching on the computer was the name of our galaxy… the Milky Way.

So needless to say, I’m once again disturbed by the decision not to issue textbooks. And while the occasion where my daughter has needed a textbook at home has been limited, I can only believe that the value in having a book at home is the additional resource it provides for learning. And isn’t that what school is supposed to be all about? Learning?

Wanting What’s Best for Our Kids

Something has been bothering me since the start of this new school year, and I would like to share my concerns and hope to gain a better insight. I also wish to learn what, if anything, can be done to resolve this dilemma.

The fifth grade of the elementary school my daughter attends is not issuing textbooks to the students.

I've had conversations with the teachers, exchanged email with the principal, and have talked with some other school district employees. And even after all these communications, I'm still not quite sure of the reasons behind the decision not to issue textbooks. I can't help but believe this is a cost-saving measure and not a decision based on our children's best interest.

One reason cited for the decision not to issue textbooks to the individual students is that they want to encourage our kids to use additional resources. They don't want our kids relying too heavily on a textbook. They want the kids to know how to look up information outside of a textbook. All fine and dandy, but what is wrong with their knowing how and using a textbook too?

Another reason mentioned is because they are using a new, advanced, hands-on curriculum and the textbooks are outdated. To that… I say buy new textbooks that are up to date.

I've also been told that this decision is so that we can encourage thinking outside the box. That we've raised a society of middle-managers and need to encourage more creative thinking. Great! But I still don't get how not having individual textbooks is going to help that.

Before school started, my sister told me that her child's school was not issuing student textbooks. No individual textbooks, just a classroom set that can be checked out! I was appalled and thought what kind of a school would try to teach students without books? What a surprise it was to learn that our school district is doing this too. Is this a trend? Are there others?

I believe most of us are reasonable people and open to change. We want what is best for our kids, and oftentimes change is for the better. This is one change however that is difficult for me, and I am very curious how other parents feel. Please share your comments. Perhaps together we can uncover the truth and come to a better understanding. Thank you.