The Scientific Revolution

I'm sitting at my desk trying to prepare for my next class, which will cover the Scientific Revolution.  I find it daunting because so many incredible things happened during this time.  As it is an MYP class, I will stress that this great change in idealism and science happened because of inquiring minds.  The Renaissance era opened the doors of thought, of change and perspective. However, the age of science changed the ways we view the world.

What we need is respect!

After months and months of political discourse, millions of dollars spent, and issues diverted the US Presidential election is finally over. The incumbent, President Barack Obama, was re-elected by a vast majority of the electoral votes, while there was a near split for popular vote for both Obama and his opponent, Mitt Romney.

The problem with the elections, the process, and the democratic system in the US is that people become so entrenched in their ideals, and black/white they lose respect for the other.  This morning, while logging onto my FaceBook account, there was much discussion from Republicans slandering the other. Who is the other? Are they enemies?  Are they criminals? Are they socialist, war-mongering fascists who are going to take over the world?  The answer is simply, NO! They are you, and they are me. We are all Americans.  We are humans, and we all have dreams and passions. 

However, we are acting like children.  It is time we get it together and learn to respect each other. We need to go back to school and learn to share and not chastise others for their beliefs.

MUN SEASAC

We just had our first planning meeting for SEASAC MUN. It is going to be a very big, very detailed event.  Luckily, NIST has many keen students that will help make the success of the event possible. 

The Sitdown

My teaching assignments are going well. I'm quite enjoying getting out of the office and into the learning.  Jacqui and I both hope to be in the classroom next year. I enjoy teaching across the year levels.  Interacting with people from a range of ages and backgrounds helps the teacher to further develop a range of perspectives.

  After I received my BA, I lived at home while saving money for graduate school. During the days, I'd give my time teaching mature students basic literacy and writing skills. It had a profound impact on me.  I helped to open my students' minds to the power of a sentence, and subject verb agreement.  They needed English to take the General Education Diploma (GED). For many different reasons, they had never finished high school, and so this was their opportunity to move forward; it was their key to a better life.

It really made me think.  There I was, 10-15 years younger than most of the students, with a BA and on my way to my MSc.  While my students, were trying to get a entry qualification to start their lives.  I learned two things from this experience. 1, I have a way with words. 2, I have a deep understanding that knowing English helps to change one's life.   I want to further engage in helping people, of all ages and backgrounds, understand English through a range of sources.

 

Brain and Music: Amazing

I was browsing You-Tube and stumbled upon this gem.  Dr. Charles Limb explains how different areas of the brain respond to different types of music.

I find it very fascinating that we as humans are all created with near similar biological constructs, but the interaction and processes from brain to brain are vastly different; no two brains are similar.

How to breed creativity?

After reading Howard Gardener's 5 Minds and Ken Robinson's books on creativity, I am puzzled with one idea. How can we enhance our creativity.  I believe everyone is creative, but many people on see in black & white, they follow strictly to the rules or to the minute detail, while failing to miss the big picture. Why is this?  Robinson has argued time and time again, that Schools kill creativity. Is this true?  From my own personal experience, I would say yes.  Within the US School system, schools created creativity as long as it fit into the standardized box.  Creativity does not belong in a box.

Top books I have read recently

As I'm working in a school and love learning I have been reading books that inform me about learning processes but also, more precisely, how the brain works.  This posting is simply a listing of some books I have read recently that are very eye-opening when it comes to our brain, our mind and their functions. 

The Political Mind  George Lakoff
Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative. Sir Ken Robinson
The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human Ramachandran, V. S.
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain. David, Engleman
How the Mind Works: Stephen Pinker
Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders Pillay, Srinivasan S., M.D.
Thinking, Fast and Slow  Kahneman, Daniel
The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science--and Reality Mooney, Chris
Mind, Brain, and Education Science: A Comprehensive Guide to the New Brain-Based Teaching Tokuhama-Espinosa, Tracey
Introducing Neuroeducational Research: Neuroscience, Education and the Brain from Contexts to Practice   Paul Howard-Jones
Neuroscience. Neuropsychology, Neuropsychiatry, Brain & Mind: Introduction, Primer, & Overview 
Joseph, R.