One quick thought

I don't mean to hog the blog, but I keep thinking of things I would like to run by the group. This book presents some very compelling arguments for change. It worries me when I listen to the discussions of our school directors. Their ideas of how to save the district money may limit our use of the concepts Pink suggests are most important to our 21st century students. (Maybe we should send them a copy of this book to read.) More importantly, how do we shift the paradigm without overwhelming the budget?

Design comments

Hi everyone. I've enjoyed reading all the fun facets Pink mentions about design. The "cutensils" caught my eye. We have been up in Quebec, and as I was looking around a kitchen store, I realized that the "cute" measuring cups that are now collapsable also caught my eye just because of their "nifty" design.

Also, the blurb about the evolution of cell phone design into "an accessorized expression of individuality" is so accurate and scairy to this "more seasoned" person! And that $4 billion worth of ring tones have been downloaded! Gleek!

I just saw the assignment about the online brain test, so I'll try to go there now! Marcy

Design

Thanks for the discussion so far. I hope to hear from some of our other members. I want to mention design as a way to help "connect" the two hemispheres. Good design results in a highly functional, yet beautiful and creative device, solution, or physical space. Design is often overlooked in our "factory" mentality. Ironically good design can actually increase efficiency - something our 150-year-old school model was set up to accomplish.

So perhaps the question to ponder is related to the idea Laurie brought up in a previous post - how could your classroom space be (re)designed to create a more powerful learning environment for your students?

Can't put it down

I hope you don't mind, but I am reading the book quickly. Pink's findings are fascinating. I especially like the idea of changes for the SAT. I agree with Pink in that much standardized testing is based on the old standards of our "knoweldge" society. It would be great to have an alternative to the SAT. I have often thought that jobs of the future would be in the arts. Looking around, where do we excell as a nation - the entertainment industry. Now, I don't believe everyone should be an actress or actor, but the entertainment field is burgeoning.
I like the idea of changing our social studies curriculum to focus more on a design aspect of society like CHAD did by integrating it with the history or culture that is being studied. We study communities in third grade. I can picture my third graders coming into my classroom on the first day of school, desks organized in the middle of the classroom and the students designing the physical structure of their learning environment. Do you think that might be too radical?
Since we study communities in third grade, it would be a great design project for us to design our own community. Students would take into consideration environmental aspects, demographic aspects, - what things need to be in place for the oldest part of the population and the youngest, etc. City planners could be brought in to talk to the students about urban planning. Dr. Dugan was on the right track when she proposed the outcome project for third grade social studies - to create an imaginary community. I think we need to reconsider what we are doing in social studies, but it is in that curriculum where I could see instituting some of these ideas.

Wow! That week flew by. I returned from Florida this afternoon.
My son and I enjoyed the Brain Quiz. I am more right brained (12to7), which did not surprise me. I like to see the big picture. I really did not know what to expect out of this book. I enjoyed reading chapter 1 ( on the plane today!) This book will apply not only to the classroom but also to my 2 teenagers who are just beginning to decide what career path to follow; the facts in chapter 2 about overseas hiring are eye opening.

Right Brainer

I must admit, I already knew it was highly likely that my right brain would dominate. There were a few questions where I could have answered with both possibilities. My final score was 11 to 8, so my idea that I had many tendencies of both, was correct.
I thought about the implications for my classroom. I have been working with the autistic support classroom for many years now, and I believe many of the high functioning students would have a dominant left brain - math often strong, but social skills limited for these students. Perhaps along with their social skills classes more emphasis could be placed on use of artistic drawings/pictures to help these students develop their right hemisphere. Maybe art therapy would be another alternative. What do you think about students with behavior issues ADHD/ADD?

Chapter 1

First, I would like to respond to Marcy. I found the filling in the vowels intriguing. I went with stamp in bag rather than stomp on bug. I wonder what that says about me (left side?). John and I were trying to decide which side is dominant for us, and we both decided that we were equally divided. I think I am a little more right brained though, but I cannot create art. I can draw something that is pictured by picturing it in my head and "tracing" the outline.
I look to my right side to value those students who may not necessarily be getting all the linear, sequential stuff. I think it helps to realize that there are some students who really have a dominance. I wonder what would happen if school curriculum would allow each student to develop his or her dominant side. Would the world function more appropriately? Would we see more gifted students?
I was reading about the charter schools in the newspaper yesterday where some of this theory is put into practice. It seems to me that the more we allow students to use their dominant sides, the better students they will be.

Chapter One - "Assignment"

Marcy, thanks for posting already! I wanted to give you all a chance to read through the first chapter. I have a fun little online test site so you can get an idea of your hemispheric dominance. Check out this link.

Please print out the page that shows your results so we can talk about the ways we're wired during some other discussions. How do you think this hemispheric dominance relates to the students in your classroom? How will it influence the way you design a learning environment?

Optional - related to the left/right issues is a test you've probably seen called the "Stroop Task". You are asked to identify words and colors in several formats - and one of them is much trickier than the others! Learn more at this site set up at the University of Michigan.

first chapter success!

Hi everyone. I've just read the first chapter, and can just feel how much I'm going to enjoy this author and book. First, I like how he compared the MRI as being "the high-tech Pringles can"! I can also "picture" what he means when he describes #4; the left hemisphere analyzes the details, the right synthesizes the big picture. The other part of interest was the explanation( on pg.21) of why, in other languages where you have to fill vowels in by context, that the brain's right hemisphere is the guiding force. Humm...very interesting! Marcy

I did it!

I figured out how to access the blog all by myself! I have ordered the book, and I should be able to post my first actual posting by next Thursday! I can't wait to read and learn!

First posting

This is my first posting. I can't wait to begin reading the book by Pink.. A Whole New Mind... maybe that's what I need.

First attempt at posting!

This is quite empowering! I hope to learn how to add a link! My students will be sooooo amazingly proud of me in September when I "WOW" them with my new "techie" abilities! Marcy

summer musings

Summer is here. On my fourth day of summer vacation I have already explored new ways to add fun to my class.

Daniel Pink's Web Site

I haven't explored this site, but I thought it might have some nice resources for us as we learn together.

Post #1

I hope I remember all this at home!

Welcome

Here is the blog that we'll use to extend our interaction for the Daniel Pink book study group. In case you need to purchase the book I've included a link to "A Whole New Mind" at Amazon.com. It's been out long enough to be in the used category too.

I look forward to sharing interactions on this site as we model the use of technology for our own professional learning. Feedback and questions are always welcome!

See you on the web....Dave