Late Comer to the AWNM Blog

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I'm late. Dave is correct, I have been reading A Whole New Mind (AWNM), along with Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat. I guess that is more my kind of summer reading--although I find the AWNM as entertaining as informative. I presented both books at the Cabinet and Principals' Retreats this summer. I think we need to lead our schools and classrooms into the directions that Pink is describing--a globalized, digitized world. I was really struck by Pink's line, "Now that Asia can do left brain work cheaper, we must learn to do right brain work better." Right on the money.

Needless to say my mind has been open to a new set of "21st century skills"--skills of the R-Directed brain that we as educators feel much more comfortable with than standardized tests, narrow assessments of narrow L-Direected standards, etc.. I'm only half way through the book, and am looking forward to discussing it with you and as many people as possible.

Dave--thank you for letting me in to your blog group--I know it is a sign of what's to come with everyone's professional learning.

A Special Welcome...

I had a chance to chat with Jack Silva a few days ago and found out he is currently reading A Whole New Mind too. I told him about our blog group and invited him to join us as we respond to Pink's ideas with our classrooms in mind.
Look for Jack to join us when he has a chance to set up his account. Welcome to the conversation!!

European Design

After my past three weeks abroad, I would like to report that the Europeans are already at the design phase with "going green" in mind. The hotels are all "green" - automatic devices that turn lights off when the key is extracted, air conditioning systems that maintain cool air but not freezing. (I was soo happy that I did not have to wear a sweater everytime I went into a building.)
The Smart car is everywhere. People walk and ride mopeds rather than drive large SUVs. I was in awe of their concern for the planet, and wished that our government would get behind the "green" movement. The antique roads inside city limits may have made this necessary as well.
I also noted furniture designs involved the whimsy needed to sell an old product with a new face. Art was everywhere - from the antiquities to the modern - Even the graffiti in Greece was very artistic!
I think the Europeans (gross generalization, I know) entered the conceptual age well before those of us living in the United Sates because of government involvement. The governments of the EU realized they needed to shift thinking in order to stay competitive. I believe the Europeans have always exhibited a greater concern for our planet and living in limited space provides many challenges. Without government involvement, however, is it possible to make this gigantic shift a reality?
Laurie

The Future Is Now!

I know the books' themes of Asia, abundance, and automation, but I couldn't resist a link that Pink cites on his own blog that seems to merge these three forces into one event.
There is no way this idea could ever beat our school secretaries! Check out the story at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20070713a2.html

Teaching Ideas

Really enjoying reading this book! I have been reading it with a few goals in mind. 1 - to look at things with a new perspective & 2 - to find ideas of how to incorporate these ideas into my classroom. I found it interesting that a school's physical environment could increase test scoes by 11%; even though I share teaching rooms, I have been trying to find a way to make the students feel like it's their room.

As I read this book, if I see an idea for the classroom, I have been writing TI (teaching idea) in the margin. Some ideas so far are:
page 94- students design their own Nike shoes
page 98 - place an object on the table - students write how the object affects their 5 senses. The section on story makes it obvious how important it is to be able to tell a story well. A lot of focus is on informational writing and persuasive writing but can most students tell a good story with both context and emotional impact ? (page 103)
2 other writing ideas I like are telling students they must write about something in exactly 50 words (page 119/121) and the ideas of interviewing a relative to tell their story. 1 more! - showing students a picture and having them create a story about it. (page 126)
I thought the process from the author's 1st picture to his final picture was interesting - I can't draw either!
Hope you are all enjoying your summer. My family and I are traveling to Costa Rica tomorrow - I will keep reading but probably not have time to access to a computer.

New Learning

Hi all - I'm writing this post from the Building Learning Communities (BLC) conference in Boston. It's a conference dedicated to online learning pedagogies and resources.
I plan to bring all kinds of new resources and ideas back to Souderton.

Hi everyone,

I just finished the chapter on STORY. Really enjoyed all his examples of how important STORY is to learning better and more deeply. The practice of the "parallel" chart of interns, and mentionning of why "scrapbooking" has become so popular were really interesting .

The exercices in the Portfolio section of STORY are really fun and challenging! I also love how Pink lists so many web sites to explore! An absolutely GREAT book to read this summer. Thanks Dave! Got to go for now...Marcy

Concept Driven Lives

After completing Pink's book, I am more certain than ever that every educator should read this book. (And anyone who has an eye toward the future.) If we don't heed what he says and change what we do, we are doing our students a disservice.
I have always thought that humor is one of the surest signs of intelligence. Thinking of Jon Stewart's version of the news on the Daily Show reminds me of how intelligent he is. He needs to take the hard news and synthesize it into a humorous broadcast. I need to develop my sense of humor and help my students develop theirs. I tend to be very synical, but often in my synicism I see beyond the immediate. I think it helps me synthesize what is happening in the world and see it not as one event, but how it fits into the whole. The symphony.
Empathy is key to future jobs. Building empathy in our students is essential. Reading and discussing, role playing etc will help us develop this in our students. It is interesting to think about the role of the physician being downplayed and that of the nurse becoming more important. Our role as educator has always been empathic, but Pink does not write much about the future of education. I would like to hear his thoughts on this issue.
I think we should get together "live" sometime later this summer to share our thoughts. What do you think? I will be out of the country until July 25th but I would love to get together after that.