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.