Guest Blogs
Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!
To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.
We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!
By Claire Doole, Claire Doole Communications
"I am not really comfortable with storytelling. I don't see how I can use it in my work". This is a typical response from senior managers/executives to the idea of attending a storytelling workshop. And what's more, I understand where they are coming from. As a BBC journalist, I was a professional storyteller - every day looking for the nugget of gold that I could mine to tell a story about something that had changed in the world.
But telling other people's stories was much easier than telling my own. Journalists don't like being the centre of the story - it makes them, among other things, feel vulnerable. What I have learned as a trainer, moderator and coach is that storytelling is about sharing experiences – either your own or someone else’s - so that you connect and build rapport, trust and credibility with those around you.
Research shows that our brains are hardwired to listen and to tell stories. Stories are how we think, make meaning of life and explain how things work. They help us make decisions, persuade others, create identities and teach social values.
In a business or organisational setting storytelling helps to sell, educate, inspire and motivate. It is a strategic tool that can bring you closer to your colleagues, clients and peers and transform how you and your organisation are perceived.
Photo by Anthony Fomin on Unsplash
By Anna Lascols, Organizing Geneva
Everyone knows that growing up is a challenge. For some blessed individuals it seems to be easy, but most of us stumbled upon one or the other obstacle on the way. Be honest with yourself: did you prefer playing outside or finishing your homework? Did you fight with your parents about tidying your room? Did you have to invent strategies enabling you to come home after 11pm? Did you secretly smoke with your friends thinking how cool you were? How did you end up paying your first bill, not talking about submitting your taxes while preparing your meal plan and signing up your kids for activities? How did we actually get to learn all these dull things adults have to manage?
Somehow, we got were we are right? We fought our way through the jungle, we fell and stood up again, we failed and succeeded, we laughed and we cried. We became a real adult. We can be proud.
Wait a minute, maybe some credits should also go to our parents, who were our worst enemies when it came to partying and curfew time, but who most probably gave us some hints and rules on how to grow up. Making a bed, sewing a button, baking a cake, keeping a schedule, managing a budget, eating healthy, being polite…whatever it is, thanks dear parents!
Generations changed however…believe it or not, there is a new word for growing up in the 21st century jungle: “Adulting”. Kids seem to believe that this process is so strange and incomprehensible, that some of America’s greatest universities like Berkeley created classes on Adulting. To help their students grow up…to teach them about taxes, nutrition, time management, bills and home duties. Teens are lost nowadays when it comes to all the practical admin and household tasks.
By Oguzhan (Osan) Altun, Swiss Photo Club
You decided to make the first serious step to improve your photography, now wondering how to choose the best school.
Consider these questions to find the best program for your goals.
There are several options available in almost all cities:
- Online video courses and articles
- A single independent photographer
- A non-certified school in your area
- A certified school in your area
Here is a quick comparison of each option:
By Valérie Fournet, LCIS
In a bid to develop relationships and to foster a real sense of 'family' and community within La Côte International School's existing House system in the Secondary school, we restructured our pastoral system and implemented the Vertical Tutoring model.
Peter A. Barnard, author of "Vertical Tutoring" writes: Mixed-age tutor groups are an ideal preparation for the development of student leadership and mentoring.
The LCIS House structures remained unchanged, our Homerooms were modified to include students from mixed age groups, as opposed to a more traditional Homeroom structure determined exclusively by academic year groups.
Each vertical Homeroom now comprises of 15-20 students from different academic groups in Lower or Upper Secondary. Each of the four Houses is led by a Head of House, whose important role involves developing a dynamic and exciting team spirit and fostering healthy competition.
Healthy competition is an important part of our Vertical Tutoring. When students compete for their House, there is a genuine sense of belonging and a desire to be part of the team.
We believe that introducing the new Vertical Tutoring system will foster a friendlier, more cohesive and supportive social environment, which would provide students with leadership opportunities.
For example, students from all Homerooms cooperate and work together on a number of House Challenges throughout the year, and this enables our House captains to guide and lead younger students.
The feedback and results so far have proven very positive and the implementation of the new Vertical Tutoring system has resulted in a unified community within our school community in which all the students are proud to belong and where students of different age groups can get to know each other better.
Picture: By Glen Carrie on Unsplash
By Anna Lascols, Organizing Geneva
Twenty twenty. Time for your New year’s resolutions. Want to lose 5kgs or quit smoking? More exercise, more reading, less stress? The lists are long, and…they are the same every year, aren’t they? How many times have you firmly decided it was time to stop procrastinating or get in shape, sleep better or reduce your screen time? Usually we manage to keep it up for about two or three weeks. And then the good intentions vanish, we magically seem to forget about them. Or let’s say they settle on the back seat of our brain and pop up only on rare occasions. We see them, get a little upset…and continue driving.
Why is that? Well, because most of the times we write a wish list without thinking it through. Our desires are vague, sometimes unrealistic. We forget to create a plan and have no system to actually integrate them in our lives. Most of the times, a New Year’s resolution comes with a change of mindset or habit which is not as easy to implement and maintain as we think. And unless you are a superhero, a goal or task that is not planned for has little chance to be executed. When we sit in a car without a map or someone else telling us when to turn left or right, we will not reach our destination either. Here are my tips to make it happen:
Why why why?
Take some quality time and reflect upon your 2020 objectives. Write them down and ask yourself: Why? Why do I want to lose weight? To avoid health problems? To be more appreciated by my husband? To make a better impression at work? The more you understand about your real motivations, the bigger the chance you will actually get there.
