Response to cd, assignment #4

I am responding to cd's comment about question #6, labyrinths. I agree with her wondering what would be in it and how it would help our schools. I think this section of Pink's writing where he talks about the importance of labyrinths was hard to understand and I was not able to grasp the importance of it either. Perhaps because I have never done one, it is hard for me to understand how this can be almost a "spiritual experience" in which creates meaning in one's life. I guess I will just have to try one to see the effects it really has on the brain and see how much it "engages my left brain in the logical progression of walking the path, the right brain is gree to think creatively."

Re: Final Entry and Evaluation

1) I really liked the convienice of taking part in an online blog study! I also really liked how we were able to read and then respond in more than one sitting, making it it a much more flexable way to do a study. Perhaps the only things I didn't like about it were that I found the format of the blog to be somewhat confusing, especially never having done a blog before. In the beginning of our assignments, I couldn't figure out how to post or read questions.

2) Changes I would recommend for other online blogs would be to have a page you could go to to explain how everything would be set up and the exact steps for posting and responding to other's comments!

3) Yes, I would participate in another book study! I found it a fun and convienent way to read a book with others and see what they thought about the reading. I enjoyed reading others' comments and sharing my thoughts with others!

4) No one responded to any of my posts, so I guess my only comment would be that I wish I would have had more of a conversation with other bloggers, I feel more like I just read others and responded to them with no "conversation". Oh well, it was still fun!

Response to Assignment #4 (questions #5, #10)

In response to question #5 , teaching has added great meaning to my life. Infact, the reason I chose to go into teaching was to have a job that I not only enjoy but to have a meaningful career that impacts others. Teaching is not only teaching valuable tools for students lifelong learning sucess, but for me I find it a place where I am able to impact a students emotions, self-confidence and much more. I look at it as an oppurtunity to embrace each student's uniqueness and celebrate them for who they are, whether they are the smartest kid in the class, or the one who struggles beyond belief. I so enjoy loving on them, encouraging them and being a person they can trust and depend on in their lives. It adds to my happiness because doing good for others is a very fufilling thing in life!

In response to question #10, if I were to dedicate my work to someone, it would be my Jesus! Everything I do is for him! I not only feel that teaching is my work, but my oppurtunity to please God with the way I treat others at work, encourage and inspire the students and strive for excellence in what I do. I dedicate my work to Him because he is the reason why I am here and I want to serve him to the best of my abilities in all that I do, especially my work!

Re: Response to Amanda Question #3

I really agree with what Amanda says about the importance of Empathy in society. It is so true that it is really what sets us apart and is an important trait for this whole new conceptual era. Computers may try to replace many automatic left-brain type jobs and activities, but they cannot replace areas where empathy is a vital role (i.e. teaching, design, etc). I am glad that this area can't be replaced because it ensures jobs and roles where human contact and emotion will be guaranteed to continue it's vitality and importance in our world.

Re: Assignment #3

In response to question 2, this is one thing I really disagree with pink about! I do not feel that video games are important for developing skills like problem solving and visual perception. I think that video games cause a lot more harm than good in a child and the "good old days" when children spent most of their time making up games and figuring out puzzles, they were able to problem solve and be a lot more creative.

In response to question 7 about Men, Women and Empathy, I think that the classroom is a place where this is easily seen. Although it is politically incorrect to say that women are more empathetic, I have noticed that truly my female students tend to empathize with emotions in the classroom much more. Also, I have taught 2 classes that were single gender and I noticed a big difference in the dynamics of the classroom. The all boys classroom was a lot harder behavior wise and when I would try to talk with them about behavior, punishment, etc, it was a lot harder for them to empathize with my dilemma/frustration. The class seemed to never quite understand the concept I was trying to convey or make any efforts to change.

FINAL ENTRY AND EVALUATION

Thank you for participating in this book study blog. Blogs I have facilitated in the past have been completed over a longer period of time, so this one felt rushed to me(as evidenced in my falling behind on posting assignments). I hope you have enjoyed the experience and that you will participate in another blogging opportunity. To help me improve future book study blogs, please answer the following questions:

1) Identify your likes and dislikes about completing a book study online.

2) What changes do you recommend to improve online book studies for others?

3) Would you participate in another book study blog? Why or why not?

4) Other comments you would like to share....

Assignment #4 Reflections on Chapters 8 and 9

Greetings, Bloggers! Thanks for your thoughtful reflections on the assignments. I love reading your ideas and responses from so many different perspectives. Select at least two questions/activities below to complete for this week's assignment. Be sure to comment on at least one other participant's response.

1) On page 210, Pink give us directions for a "Cartoons Captions Game". Try this activity with friends or family to determine if this is something you'd like to try with your students. If you don't subscribe to "New Yorker", I encourage you to check out Hendersonville's library collection or sip some coffee at Barnes and Noble while you browse through a copy of the journal there.

2) We have another opportunity to test ourselves with the Humor Scale (p. 211). Check it out and post your findings.

3) Explore the various game sites listed on pages 212 and 213. What's good? Unimpressive? Worth sharing?

4) How is Pink's notion of "meaning" a part of your teaching? Should we even broach this subject in a secular classroom? If so, how?

5) How does teaching add meaning to your life? How does it add to your happiness?
What is the importance of your response to these two questions to your students?

6) Can you envision a labyrinth somewhere on your school's site? If so, what words might be attached to your school's labyrinth for students, staff, and other stakeholders to ponder as they walk through it? Why are these words significant to your school--how do they connect to your school's purpose?

7) Reflect on the 20-10 test in your life circumstances. Share what you can.

8) Complete the "But Out" exercise on on pages 238 and 239. Impressions?

9) Have you read any of the suggested readings on pages 240-241? If so, give us your critique (ever so briefly).

10) If you were to dedicate your work to someone, who it would be? Why?

Happy Blogging!

Response to Empathy

I completely agree with Cathy about empathy. Empathy is our pathway to understanding different cultures and diversity. I found it interesting that on college campuses there are classes that are teaching "Interpersonal Dynamics". My degree is in social work and so many of my classes both from undergrad and grad. school focused on how to show empathy to others. It was stressed that in order to be able to help others in their life, they have to see you as accepting of them where they are. As I watch students in my school, some children have a enormous amount of empathy for others and it is demonstrated in their relationships, the way they handle conflicts, the way they respond to teachers. I do think we can teach empathy and we can learn to have empathy even as an adult. It's as simple as helping children at a very young age recognize how someone is feeling by their expressions. The book spoke about this on page 165-166. When children are able to identify how someone is feeling, then they are able to respond accordingly. I feel it is important as teachers that we stop when there are conflicts between students and use those conflicts as teachable moments. Ask the children, how they are feelings, what they should do next to make it better, etc. I know that we are all so busy at school during the day but I'm afraid we miss many times that we could teach empathy in our day.

Empathy

I'm a little behind posting.....my computer keeps crashing :( But I wanted to respond to assignment 2 re the 6 senses; as a school counselor, I think i'm instrinsicly drawn to EMPATHY--its such an emperative skill to develop. I believe that if we valued the aptitude for understanding someones feelings or "meeting them where they lived," it may, in fact, heighten the development of the other senses. what if we valued tenderness & care?? could it change the nature in which we sell products or do business or even educate?? could meaning, play, design, story & symphony derive their direction from the understanding of empathy?? Perhaps an entire society of people embracing this aptitude would redefine the other senses....we would "feel" & understand them in a different way if we first learned the art of caring for one another.

It seems to me that children, usually, innately have the gift of loving self, life & creation but we fail to celebrate these gifts in our kids; instead we move them into the "normal" grooves of societal living--that for most of us adults, are stressful, unhealthy & what we spend the rest of our lives trying to "retire" from; watch a toddler or young child's compassion emerge when you tell a story about a wounded animal or other children who have lost their home in a hurricane---I think we bypass these moments too quickly & unknowlingly devalue their empathetic feelings. As a counselor, I want to "Juice" these moments for all they are worth because I think it makes a difference in the other senses we are trying to develop.

Assignment #3 Reflections on Symphony and Empathy.

Respond to at least two of the questions below. Be sure to comment on another blogger's post.

1) Are your students learning to be symphonic thinkers? If so, how can we teach this capacity? Does the traditional means of organizing teaching by discipline interfere with students' and teachers' ability to think symphonically?

2) Do you agree with Pink that video games are important for developing skills like problem solving, visual perception and symphonic thinking? Explain.

3) Respond to this quote from Twyla Tharp (p. 139): "Metaphor is the lifeblood of all art."

4) Which of the Symphony exercises would you recommend to another educator? Why?

5) Can you teach empathy? Should you teach empathy? How?

6) Pink states, "But Empathy is much more than a vocational skill necessary for surviving twenty-first-century labor markets. It's an ethic for living. It's a means of understanding other human beings..." (p. 165) Your thoughts?

7) Reread the section on Men, Women, and Empathy (pp. 172-174). What are the implications for the classroom? How does this jive with what you know or have experienced with single gender classrooms?

8) Test yourself (p. 177-178) Select one of the tests to take. Share your experience.

9) We're all pressed for time. Share with the rest of us how you find time to volunteer? Where do you volunteer? What kind of volunteer work do you do? What advice would you give to anyone considering volunteering for the first time?

Happy Blogging!

Re: Sheila about PLAY

I agree with what Sheila says about not just seriousness, but PLAY! It is so true, that when the teacher has a lighter mood, and makes learning more "fun", I believe the students get more out of the subject and remember more because they are having fun. I always remembered my teachers more and the information I was learning when the teacher made it more fun! I know from my own teaching, I can tell such a difference in what the students are learning, by how big the smiles are on their faces. For instance, this year as an art teacher, I was teaching gesture and contour drawings with my 5th graders. I picked out s from the class to pose, and all the students wanted a turn. They loved the fact that they could be so involved in the artwork they were making! These students still come back to me and talk about it!

Response to Assignment two: Be Choosy

I chose be choosy, haha, this is funny because I am one of the most choosy people that I know! It takes me so much extra time to pick out a food, or clothes item at the store! I have always been one to ponder and choose an item based on it's functional properties first, and one that remains classic, like Pink says. So, just recently, my husband and I were headed to Babies r' us to get started on our baby registry. When we got started, with all the possibilities it seemed an overwhelming task. So instead of picking items purely out of impulse, we decided to go home and complete it online, giving us more time to investigate and be choosy about each item.

Re: Wynde Abundance, Asia, Automation

It's great to see your honesty about never thinking about the fact that someone would even design the toilet brush. The concept is rather funny, an object that we really don't even care about. This is something I try to talk about with my students quite often as an art teacher. Someone really did take the time to design all the objects around us, furniture, utensils, etc. I try to talk with my students about really observing all the objects we use and various careers that may do this. I tend to talk about this a lot too because my sister in law is an industrial designer and I see simple objects that she designs, like a toothbrush! How cool!

Response to Assignment 1: Teaching towards R-Brain thinking

I would like to think that I promote Right-Brain thinking as I teach art, which predominantly uses the right side of the brain. Much of the content in my classroom and the way I teach, invites my students to look at an object (such as a painting, sculpture or everyday item) as a whole, simultaneous thinking. I ask students to look at the significance and beauty of a piece of artwork. For instance, when I teach how to draw a self-portrait, I teach the students to look at the face as a whole, to distinguish the relationship between objects, not so much each object individually. As a whole, I really think teaching Right-Brain learning depends on the teacher, not so much the school. If the teacher is willing to teach using various techniques and alternative activities rather than just the traditional reciting, quizzing, etc, it will allow for more r-brainers to engage witht the context of the material.

Assignment #2 Introduction to Part II and Chapters 4 and 5

Thanks to everyone who posted to the first assignment. If you haven't had a chance to respond to any of the questions for Part I and/or comment on other posts, it's not too late!

Part II of the book describes each of the six senses and gives the reader suggestions for nurturing and developing them. Choose at least one of the suggestions for nurturing the designer and storyteller residing in you to complete. Share your thoughts about your experiences. Be sure to comment on your fellow bloggers' posts!