If I actually asked you to “Make me feel important”, it would sound like I was weird.  Also, if I had to ask, nothing you said in return would sound sincere.   Still, the desire to be important is a basic part of human nature.  If you want to be a leader, read that invisible sign.  When you make someone feel important, that person will become more willing to follow you.

            
(Yes, Mr. Perry, there is a political message here.)

What makes a comment clever?  The really clever ideas are the ones that relate other things to the current topic in an original way.  I get most of my clever ideas by really trying to understand something better by comparing it to other things I know.  When I am trying to come up with a clever comment so I can get attention, my mind seeks out strangeness, so my comment ends up being disconnected instead of being clever.

Some changes are cyclical, like the seasons.  When fall arrives, we don’t throw our summer clothes away – we’ll use them again next year.  Other changes, like the technology for making salt, are permanent – we need to abandon some old ways and adapt to the new.

The big question for school is:  How do we prepare for the future when we know that it will be different?  Learning about the past will help us understand the cycles of change, so we can plan for th...