18Oct 2013 by CJ

Teacher evaluations should be adopted by all employers

Information & Education, Life & Living
Many of you are probably unaware of this, but teachers in New Jersey must now adhere to a rigorous evaluation process (instituted by Governor Chris Christie and his team) in order to measure their overall effectiveness in the classroom. While evaluations, in both the private and public sectors, have been practiced religiously for decades, I’m not sure they’ve ever been utilized to this degree. Over the duration of the school year, teachers will find themselves observed 18 times in 10 months – rated as effective or ineffective. When the final results are tallied, enough ineffective scores are grounds for dismissal. This evaluation process got me to thinking – why isn’t the rest of the working world adopting such a lofty measurement system? I’ll tell you why. Because if this evaluation…
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16Oct 2013 by CJ

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy

Life & Living
For the better part of a decade, I was a contributing editorialist for a respected and admired weekly newspaper with a long history and very loyal following. Though I was only in my mid-twenties when I began writing for The Leader, my more mature-minded writing (not unlike this blog) seemed to appeal to a wide range of readers. I’ve always been much older in terms of thought and behavior than my age might suggest. I’m not sure how or why that happens to certain individuals journeying through life, but I’ve always been one of them – still am. I credit this character trait for my many successful years with the newspaper. During my affiliation with The Leader, my columns were a popular part of the weekly publication. They were filled…
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15Oct 2013 by CJ

Life’s only a “failure” if you haven’t learned anything from it

Life & Living
“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” Henry Ford It’s easy to look through the history of one’s life and categorize certain events or experiences as being failures. I hate that word. By definition the word failure speaks of a person or thing that is unsuccessful or disappointing. Okay, there are parts of my life I wish I would’ve handled differently, but to say that I was “unsuccessful” or that my life was somehow “disappointing” because of it just seems a little harsh. I believe the only reason something should be classified as a failure is if you haven’t learned anything from it. If you’ve gone through a string of relationships or friendships and still can’t love someone unconditionally; if you’ve bounced from job to job but…
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14Oct 2013 by CJ

Weekends should be about making a life

Life & Living
Come Friday afternoon of any given work-week I’m often asked by fellow co-workers, “Do you have any big plans this weekend?” I know this sounds strange, but I’m always a little unsure how to answer that. After all, what really describes “big weekend plans”? Going away for a few days; heading into the city for dinner and a show; traveling to a local festival or outdoor event? While my wife and I have certainly participated in all of the above at one time or another, our weekends are traditionally quiet, laid back and often infinitely relaxing. Let’s face it - work-weeks are often filled with stress, anxiety and unforeseen events that seem to pop-up out of nowhere. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough time in the day to accomplish everything we…
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03Oct 2013 by CJ

Bullies are nothing more than cowards

Life & Living, Youth
You’d be naïve to think that bullies only exist on the playground. That the adult world we all inhabit is void of individuals who need to show their dominance over others in order to feel superior and strengthen their own insecurities. Sadly they’re all around us – on the front pages of our newspapers, in our government agencies and in the places we live and work. Here’s something important to remember though: bullies are nothing more than cowards whose only way to cope with their lack of self-esteem is to verbally and many times abusively attack others. You would think as adults we would learn the harmful effects such behaviors can have on others, but then again most bullies simply don’t know any other way to live – or should…
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