The Germans get credit for gestalt. See the 'box' even though there are only a few line segments. Your eye does the rest. The Greeks (in my opinion, so please don't rush to provide a rigorous historical study at this point -- although I'd appreciate the effort) offered constellations, night star 'stories'. And patterns are truths (again, my opinon) much as the "medium is the message" (thank you, Marshall).
And thus, a few "Brain Things" for you tonight. Or for me. But it's about patterns and constellations and Gestalt vision. No answers. No absolutes. No capital-T Truth. Just "Brain Things". Breadcrumbs. Following rabbits and such.
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Brain Thing #1: From Ian Jukes' "Committed Sardine" blog -- "Parents Get Look at Teens' Brains":
Excerpt: ''If science stops at the door of the laboratory, we're not doing what we should," said Silveri, who gives plain-language talks about brain science to help the average parent understand why youngsters don't think the same way as adults, and to reveal in the process that even the most thuggish-looking teens have brains that are as vulnerable as an infant's.
Brain Thing #2: From "The Reflective Teacher" blog -- "Surprise" (2.9.06)
Excerpt: Next year I get that chance to be a first-year teacher all over again. And while that statement has probably never been uttered by another first-year teacher, it’s the truth: I like this flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants teaching. I like big changes. I do better when I struggle, and I don’t want to become complacent in my teaching, nor do I want to quickly be allowed to fall into a groove of “this is what I teach every year.”
Brain Thing #3: From "The Education Wonks" -- "Carnival of Education #53" weekly 'good stuff in the edu-blog world' survey:
Excerpt: Welcome to the Anniversary Edition [one year!] of the Carnival of Education! Where has the time gone? It has gone by so fast...This week's exhibits are groups into several categories and were submitted by the writers unless labeled otherwise.
Brain Thing #4: From "The Thinking Stick" blog -- "Feeling the Frustration" (2.8.06):
Excerpt: So Will Richardson up and quit his job. 2006 might just turn out to be the year that education lost all its great technology minds. It scares me a little that I can relate to what Will talks about in his post. The frustration, the conversation becoming bigger then the work you are doing in the schools, the feeling that there has to be something more or a better way to do things. That feeling of banging your head against a wall only to find out the wall is 100+ years old and just won’t move.
Brain Thing #5: From Doug Johnson's "Blue Skunk" blog -- "A Little Learning - Redux" (2.6.06):
Excerpt: Might my time spent writing in a blog be better spend writing more thoughtful articles, crafting intriging columns, or revising one of my very dated books? While this is really fun (writing without an editor is like dating without a chaperone sorta), is there much value to anyone in slapping up one's every random thought? Or worse, am I writing even when I have nothing to say, but simply for the joy of the process? I have every right, I guess, to waste my own time, but should I be wasting the time of those who might be reading?
As Laura suggested in a reply to yesterday's blog entry, might my time be better spent building F2F relationships? Getting to get know the neighbors, volunteering at the soup kitchen, or, for heaven forbid, talking to the LWW? Am I even neglecting other virtual relationships with friends and relatives?
Brain Thing #6: From George Siemens' "Connectivism" blog -- "Separating Knowledge from the Learner": (1.23.06)
Excerpt: I'm going to make what will sound like an absurd suggestion: future learning endeavors need to separate knowledge from learners...
In a learning sense, we have treated the learner and the content as one entity. We fill the learner with content and release them into the corporate world. As their content runs low, they attend evening/continuing education classes in order to "refill". This model works fairly well when the half-life of knowledge (how long it takes for knowledge to lose relevance) is long. In today's world, knowledge is short - it survives only a short period of time before it is outdated. Most individuals need to spend an enormous amount of time in continuing education classes to stay current. It's not good for business, and it's not good for employee's sanity.
Brain Thing #7: From Chris Lehman's "Practical Theory" blog -- "High Stakes Tests" (2.10.06):
Excerpt: For all those politicians and educational commentators who trumpet these tests as the saving grace for education:
Take the test.
Let's see every politican who voted for NCLB take the graduation standard tests in their state. And then, let's have every newspaper publish their scores on the tests so they can be judged just as schools are judged when the papers publish their scores.
I don't think we'd see that much support for the standardized-test movement after that.
Brain Thing #8: From David Warlick's "2 Cents Worth" blog -- "Problem Solver With Wings" (2.9.06):
Excerpt: I’m not a huge Blogvangelist. It’s one of many tools out there, all of which I recognize as being in flux. It didn’t exist as an important part of my world two years ago, and perhaps will fade out in the next two years. I’ve been around long enough to accept that fads come and go, and that it takes nothing from their value to recognize this.
But blogging makes such a great and simple lens through which to witness and interact with the new information environment. In the old environment, you typed your knowledge and ideas on paper, or scratched it with a pencil. Then you carried it to its destination. You read books that you walked or road to obtain and that others walked or road to deliver. You drove to the theater, bought CDs (Albums in my world) at the store you walked to, consumed information that somebody handed to you.
It was a foot and mouth information environment, and our information economy road on wheels.
Our children have sprouted wings, and most of us don’t even see them.
Brain Thing #9: From the National Association of School Boards' "SchoolBuzz" blog -- "DC Plan: Private Investment in School Construction...for a Price" (2.8.06):
Excerpt: Here is one interesting idea in Washington, D.C. Want upgraded public schools and libraries? Make deals with developers hungry for condominium space that go like this: The developers would build new libraries, schools and maybe even police stations, and get the privilege of putting condominiums or shops on top of or alongside them. Proponents say developers could pay now for amenities the city wouldn't fund for years, if ever, and developers would get scarce city space for housing -- mostly high-end, but some affordable, the Washington Post reports.
Brain Thing #10: From Brett at the "DeHavilland" Blog -- "Why Does High School Fail So Many?" (1.31.06):
Excerpt: But I also think that a college-or-nothing approach is fraught with huge problems. I think one of three things can happen: either you do in fact graduate ready for college (whether you end up attending or not); you drop out (and national dropout statistics indicate that 30% of kids choose this option); or you slip by with a wink and a nod, not ready for college but passed through by a system that either overlooks your shortcomings (social promotion, etc.) or lowers the standards enough that "college ready" students are not in fact ready for college. This third option can be seen in the remedial classes that so many freshmen are now having to take once they get on campus.
And one more Brain Thing for the road...
From Wes Fryer's "Moving at the Speed of Creativity" blog -- "People are the Curriculum" (1.25.06):
Excerpt: People are the curriculum.
No, school is not primarily about the effective transmission of content from the mouth of the teacher or the page of the textbook into the mind of the learner. Yes, of course we want students to gain more knowledge and skills as a result of their school experiences– so content IS important, but content is not the curriculum.
People are the curriculum.
An authentic environment of teaching and learning is all about helping others change and expand their perceptions. This is a challenging task. Education is fundamentally about changing the world, one mind a time. If this was a simple or easy proposition, why would we appropriately value and venerate the “master teachers” with whom most of us have (however briefly) had an opportunity to exchange perceptions at some point in our educational journeys? Moving from apprentice-teacher to journeyman to master is a long road paved with plenty of mistakes and lots of experiences. It is a journey that can only be made through sustained contact with other masters, and in the trenches of the classroom working with students. This is an age-old tale of learning which likely predates the written word.
Brain is good. People are better. Blog on...
I enjoyed this so much. It just disappoints me that so little of what is said here makes any real difference in schools. If it did, they would not remain the same!
Posted by: Norman Constantine | February 13, 2006 at 05:54 AM
You've compiled some really big thoughts from some really big people. "People are the curriculum." That is really powerful. Move the people and the curriculum moves with them. Keep pushing.
Posted by: nnorris | March 04, 2006 at 10:47 AM