The Art of Zen Emailing

A few years ago, I was drowning in emails. As the director of a two county federal program, emails came fast and furious at all hours of the day requiring high y levels of action. Each morning, I started the day by opening my account while hyperventilating as the messages screamed at me for attention. In response, I set up a plethora of files but I still couldn't keep up. Something had to happen to save my sanity. About that time, I attended an educator's conference and I met with a woman who used the term "Zen Emailing". Just the concept intrigued me and I set off to find out more. 

Fast forward a few years and I have a nearly empty inbox and have maintained it that way since I learned how to take control. Zen emailing has increased my efficiency by giving me a set of guidelines while reducing my workload. My faculty colleagues expressed interest in reducing or managing emails and I offered to present on Zen Emailing. For the entire Powerpoint, shoot me an email. In sum, in addition to adding my own steps, I pulled from two resources GTD (Getting Things Done) and Zen Habits:

Tips from GTD

•Limit email processing times

•Take action

•Immediately add things to the calendar

•Keep emails short. Use Google Doc, for longer correspondence

•Quick to-do list adding using GroupWise planner tools.

•Keep only unread emails in inbox

•Bookmark or file to read later

•Filter ruthlessly

•Close email when done

Tips from Zen Habits

1.     Don’t check email first thing in the morning, or have it constantly on.

2.     When you check your email, dispose of each one, one at a time, right away. Is it junk or some forwarded email? Trash it immediately. 

3.     Is it a long email that you just need to read for information? File it in a Read folder. 

4.     If the email requires action, make a note of the action on your to-do or GTD lists to do later. 

5.     If you can respond to it in a minute or two, do so immediately.

6.     If you need to follow up on the email later, or are waiting for a response, note it on a Waiting For list.

7.     The author (Leo) has only one folder. I am working toward this goal. 

Image/Visual Online Vocabulary Tools

For low adult readers, vocabulary development is critical. To support diverse learning needs, a variety of strategies are required to increase comprehension and word meaning. In educational studies, many of the traditional methods of teaching vocabulary have not been successful at supporting this demographic due to the lack of linking new words to meaningful definitions and real life situations. This has prompted me to look into online services that readers can readily access and use regardless of computer literary level.

During my search for online word development supports, I learned about an online thesaurus and dictionary service called Learn Word Sense: http://wordsense.me/learn

When students enter a word, they are shown the definition(s) as well as the connections associated to that and similar words. In addition, students are provided with clear uses of the words in context.

The site is straightforward to use. I entered the word "animated" as an example and was given two clear uses in addition to a connection meanings:

http://wordsense.me/senses/animated/1

The beauty of this site is that it provides students with a simple way to make connections while enhancing comprehension and build vocabulary. Both skills are critical  for my developmental Reading/Writing levels. Give it a whirl!

On my search for more online visual vocabulary resources, I came across this golden nugget including five visual dictionaries and thesauri that can help students learn new vocabulary words by making word connections: Here is the link: Visual Word Resources.

Here is a quick description of each:

Got Brainy features two sections; Brainy Flix and Brainy Pics including short videos and pictures.
Snappy Words  is a free visual dictionary and thesaurus.
Image Dictionary is a Chrome extension that enables users to right-click on a word and quickly find an image that is representative of that word.
Word Sense is a neat little service that is one part dictionary and one part thesaurus. (This is what I initially reviewed about above.)
Visuwords uses a web design to show users the definitions of words and the connections between words.


I used these tools with students during our Digital Tuesday class and I asked for the feedback:

"Visuwords seemed really interesting once I learned how to use it."

"I thought the visuwords was helpful because it was clear when you types the word in the search box."

"I liked the wordsense. It was pretty useful and easy to use,. They others were a little confusing."

"Wordsense was most useful because it had all the answers I was looking for."

"I think wordsense was the most useful because it was a simple operation."

What I found is that with practice, students started to develop a keen interest in the different features at each site. They need a level of computer skills and comfort to gain the most out of the tools.