Hi Class,

We had the 23rd lesson on Tuesday.
I hope everyone is feeling well.
Many people in my office have been getting sick lately.
Take care of yourselves!

In the lesson we discussed the next step in the Personal Branding Statement process.
We have learned that the formula for the PBS is Skills + Personality/Passion + Market Needs.

Our next step is to look at market needs.
Here is your homework for Tuesday, January 9th, 2007:
(Please note that there are no lessons on December 26th and January 2nd!)

I'd like you to write out the following:

1. Write down the title of your position or the type of business you are in.
Example: If you do consulting for clients, you might be a business consultant.

2. List up the following:
a) the general responsibilities of your job
b) the specific duties of your job
c) achievements you have made

3. List the key talents or skills necessary for doing your job well.
This can include areas that you need to improve as well.

Do your best writing out this homework and we will discuss it during the next class.

I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Matthew

Hi Class!

This is the 22nd lesson.

Today we reviewed the steps for the Personal Branding Statement.

You have Skills, Personality, and Passion finished so far.

Your homework is to meet and do a one-on-on discussion with a colleague, friend, a co-worker, family member, or a superior and discuss your Personality and Passion with them.
Write down any feedback or new things you learn about yourself in the process.

You should know what your strong traits are now and should have gone to the "Project You! Community" and posted them to the discussion: What's your personality? => Scaling => Strong Traits.

By the way, this link is the ALC site which has a very good dictionary:
www.alc.co.jp

Thanks for all your hard work and see you in class,

Matthew

Hi Class,

Today we had the 21st lesson.

Homework:
Have a one-on-one discussion about your your 10 skills, passion, and strong traits with a friend, colleague, or superior.
Write down anything that was different or that was added to your Skills, personality, or passion.
Please use the Personal Branding Statement page in the Project You! Community as a guide.

Dear Class,

On Tuesday we had our 20th Lesson!

We are making really good progress with creating our Personal Branding Statements and many of you are really reading a lot of books.

I am very happy to see that you are posting the books that you've read on the Extensive Reading Community.

In class this week we reviewed how to add the books you've read to the discussion group.
Here are the basic steps:

• First use the search function at the top-right part of the page to search for your book title

• If you read "Forrest Gump", just type in "Forrest" and if someone has added it, it will appear
• You can also search by using the abbreviation for the book level; type PGR2 and all of the Penguin Graded Readers for level 2 will appear
• Put in your first or last name and a list of all the books you've read will appear (after you have inputed them of course)

• If your book hasn't been inputed then type the following into the discussion subject:
  
• Series/Level * Book Title * Yomiyasui Level * Genre * Total # of words * Rating
• For Example: PGR3 Forrest Gump YL 3.4 HU 10,000 ☆☆☆☆
• Now type the date you finished reading the book, Your name, and a comment into the Message area
• For example: 2006/9/5 Yumiko Toyoshima 映画と比べるとより現実的な内容だったけど、おもしろかった。

• If your book has already been inputed then reply to the last message, input the following, and press the send button:
  
• date you finished reading the book, Your name, and a comment into the Message area
• For example: 2006/9/5 Yumiko Toyoshima 映画と比べるとより現実的な内容だったけど、おもしろかった。
• Now do this for all of the books you've read so far!

I want to thank everyone who has posted the books they read this week.
As of last night, around 80 books, and over 100 comments have been entered!
Let's keep up the good work!

Be sure to bring your Personality Scaling Worksheet results with you tomorrow.
You should know what your strong traits are now and should have gone to the "Project You! Community" and posted them to the discussion: What's your personality? => Scaling => Strong Traits.

Our next step will be to have a one-on-one focus group with a friend, colleague, boss, or superior to discuss your personality traits and see if they agree or can give you some feedback.

Thanks again and see you in class!

Matthew