1 . How to Develop Critical Thinking Skills

There’s no magic method to change your thinking processes. Improvement happens with small, intentional changes in your everyday habits until a more critical approach to thinking is automatic. Here are some tips for building stronger self-awareness and learning how to improve critical thinking:

Be careful

    1    . One of the key principles of critical thinking is asking questions and analyzing the available information. You might surprise yourself at what you find when you stop to think before taking action. Before making a decision, use evidence, logic, and reasoning to support your own opinions or challenge ideas.     2    .

Ask open-ended questions

“Yes” or “no” questions invite agreement rather than reflection.     3    . Digging deeper can help you identify potential biases, uncover assumptions, and arrive at new possible solutions.

Learn to be quiet

Active listening is the intentional practice of concentrating on a conversation partner instead of your own thoughts.     4    . If you’re brainstorming with your team or having a 1:1 with a coworker, listen, ask clarifying questions, and work to understand other people’s viewpoints. This will help you find weaknesses in arguments for better solutions.

Put it down

Recording your thoughts with pen and paper can lead to stronger brain activity than typing them out on a keyboard. If you’re stuck and want to think more critically about a problem, writing your ideas can help you process information more deeply.     5    . Ideas are more likely to remain in the background of your mind, leading to deeper thinking that informs your decision-making process.

2 . The environment has never been more in need of a helping hand from us. Schools, in particular, are in a great position to educate future generations and make sure that good environmental habits are learned and adopted from an early age. So, ranging from energy efficiency to recycling, here are our tips to make your school more eco-friendly and sustainable.

☆    1    

Sending waste to landfill to slowly rot away isn’t the best use of the world’s resources. Plus, the space available for landfill is rapidly running out. Instead, boost recycling by providing appropriate and appealing facilities with clear signage (标识).     2    .

☆Turn off the lights and fit energy-efficient light bulbs

Saving energy used for lighting is one of the easiest things that we can do.     3    . Turn off lights when they’re not needed. Signage asking people to turn off the lights can act as a useful reminder.

☆Go paperless

    4    , with paper now being seen as outdated in many cases. This is good news for the environment, but it sometimes needs people to change how they do things. Look into options for creating and using fewer paper-based administration systems at school and think twice before printing or photocopying all those A4 pages, for example.

☆Reject plastic water bottles

Recent television programs and campaigns have raised the issue of waste plastic towards the top of the environmental agenda. In some ways, this isn’t surprising because, again, it is relatively easy for everyone to make a difference to the environment with minimal effort.     5    . Just stop buying brand-new water bottles that are used once and then recycled, and reuse existing bottles and containers instead.

4 . How to choose a hiking trail (路径)

If you’re a keen hiker, chances are you have your favorite trails mostly because they’ re easy to reach and fit into your schedule. If you desire to set foot in hiking in depth, this guide may walk you through the steps of how to choose a hiking trail to your next great adventure.

    1     , defining how many miles the hike covers before departure. Next, ask yourself if you can reasonably walk that far. You can just walk as far down a trail as you want, and then turn back when you’re ready.    2    , such as a waterfall or standing stones, you’ll ideally make sure you can reach it.

Know what’s going to be underfoot.     3     On a hike you might encounter all different types of land, and the climbing is going to be dangerous or stable. So do research and understand what type of terrain (地形) you’re likely to encounter. There’s a big difference between walking through a forest and stair-stepping up a steep rock. When you’re using route finding apps, trails are usually rated us easy, moderate or difficult. Make sure you understand exactly what the hike involves from a skill to equipment    4    

For hikers, a thundering waterfull falling over a cliff can be a breathtaking climax to a forest hike.     5    , the things you’ll see along the way are a great reason to choose one hiking trail over another so long as the rest of it falls within your ability level of course.

5 . For many people, memory improvement is possible. The extent to which memory can improve, however, will be different from person to person.     1     .

Timing activities strategically

How you order your daily tasks can impact your ability to remember them and get them done smoothly.

Difficult or cognitively taxing activities should be completed at the beginning of the day when fatigue is low and attention is at a high level.     2     . Meanwhile, take frequent breaks when engaged in a long task.

    3    .

A clean living and working environment with minimal distractions may help you focus on your tasks and remember what you need to do.

Writing down your personal experiences

    4    . Memory research has established that when people write about their personal experiences, they tend to recall those occurrences much better.

Avoiding multitasking

    5    .

One study found that people between the ages of 60 and 80 have significantly more trouble remembering tasks after they’ve experienced a brief interruption than do people in their 30s and 40s.

Research has shown that switching your attention from a laptop to a cellphone or texting while watching TV decreases the gray matter in our brains that helps us with sensory perceptions including decision-making and memory.

6 . How Gardeners Can Reduce Risk of Fire

If you are selecting plants for your garden, knowing which plants offer some fire resistance and which are more flammable (易燃的) can serve you well.

Quicker to catch fire

Plants like bamboo that produce flammable substances such as aromatic oils, resins (树脂), wax, or sap, are among the quickest to catch fire.     1    

Trees with thin bark (树皮) that falls off are usually more flammable than those without. And fine-needled plants like pine, juniper, and spruce contain resins.     2    

Many kinds of grasses are highly flammable. Their ability to catch fire increases when they are left to stand dry over winter or during periods without rain. Additionally, too much heat dries out the soil and under such conditions, many kinds of plants turn into a fire starter.

Native vs. non-native

As a group, native plants aren’t necessarily less flammable than introduced kinds of plants.     3     That is because they spread quickly and are usually left alone by wildlife. The non-native plants spread faster than native plants, and often tolerate heat, heavy rain and lack of water better.

For the best fire resistance, choose trees that lose their leaves every year, like ash, and maple, rather than fine-needled trees.     4     Those plants with water-filled leaves include ice plants and sedums. Some groundcover plants are also slow burners.

What to look for in plants

The Washington State University Extension Service has published advice for choosing plants that are fire-resistant.     5     They include:

•High water content in leaves.

•Little or no seasonal gain of dead plant material.

•Open branching (they provide less fuel for fires).

•Fewer total branches and leaves.

7 . Do you ever feel like you’re not good enough, even though you’ve done some cool stuff? This feeling can contribute to increased anxiety, depression and a cycle of overworking to prove yourself.     1     Actually, lots of people, up to 82%, have these kinds of discouraging feelings. Here’s how you can deal with them.

●    2    . One way to fight self-doubt is to keep track of all the cool things you’ve done. Start a journal where you write down projects you’ve finished, goals you’ve reached, and nice things people have said about you. Work out a practical schedule to look back at this list.

● Figure out what’s good enough. Success can mean different things in different situations for different persons, so it’s okay not to be the best at everything all the time. Just think about how good is good enough.     3     and then it can save your energy for other important things, like spending time with your family and friends.

●Get help from someone you look up to. Working with a seasoned life coach who has done well and has qualities you admire can be a big help. They can assist you by sharing their own struggles with self-doubt and this exchange equips you with good strategies in your own pursuit of success.     4    

Just remember, it’s normal to be fooled by negative feelings sometimes, but you can’t be tricked by them all the time.     5    . By using these strategies, you can start a transformative path towards personal growth.

8 . Nervous laughter is a way for your body to relieve tension or serves as a defense mechanism to beat painful emotions. But it becomes a problem when it causes rifts (不和) in relationships or makes others uncomfortable.     1    As with any habit, it won’t change overnight. However, it’s possible to retrain your patterns.

    2    Any time you feel a nervous laugh bubbling up, try one of these behaviors instead: a slow triple nod, whispering ahh or hmmm as you listen or are with someone. This will give your body something to do to displace the nervous laughter.

As you become aware of your nervous laughter habit and pattern, try to identify what purpose it is serving and what is triggering (触发) it. Do you laugh to relieve tension? Are you filling the silence when you don’t understand what someone has said to you?    3    In this step of reflection, journaling or talking with a trusted individual may be helpful.

Once you’ve found what is triggering your nervous laughter, set an intention for how you will redirect your nervous energy in that instance.    4    For example, if your manager gives you constructive feedback, then you can remind yourself he is giving you an opportunity for growth rather than telling you that you’re bad at your job.

Practicing empathy is of great help. Its goal is to share the feelings of the person you’re speaking with. This can help you focus less on how uncomfortable you feel and more on how frightened, puzzled or sad he may feel. To do this, ask open questions that don’t assume an answer.     5    

9 . Show someone you care

Valentine’s Day, which takes place on February 14, is a holiday celebrating love, and its origins may date back more than 1,000 years.     1     In addition, Random Acts of Kindness Week kicks off on February 11 — another reason to make others feel special! Here are some sweet ways to spread love and kindness this year.

Decorate your home

    2     One idea is to cut paper hearts out of construction paper, make holes in them, and use string to hang them across a mantel or bookcase. Another fun way to decorate is to write messages on paper hearts and put them in unexpected places. Surprise your family with a “Looking good!” heart on the bathroom mirror or an “I love you” heart on a coffee maker.

Start a surprise chain

Here’s a fun tradition to try for delighting others. Pack a goody bag or small box with sweets, stickers, colored pencils, or whatever you have on hand.     3     Include a note that encourages them to leave a similar goody bag for someone else.

    4    

One of the best ways to show a friend or a family member that you care about them is to plan a special outing just for the two of you. For example, you could write a card to your dad inviting him on a hike, or give a card to your best friend suggesting a picnic in the park. You can also do a random act of kindness, like cleaning the mess out of the family car, packing a surprise snack in a brother’s lunchbox, or surprising a grandparent with an unexpected phone call.

Go homemade

There’s a reason why Valentine cards and chocolates are so popular—everyone likes them! Make homemade cards and treats for special people in your life. Check out the Valentine’s global craft and chocolate shake recipe on the web page and try to go homemade.     5