A sum of its parts: no more or no less?

So, I've joined an EVO session this year and decided to stick to it. Last year I gave up, because of the Blogathon - time management issues, but this year I'm persisting.

For those of you who don't know what an EVO session is, here it goes: EVO stands for Electronic Village Online. It's educators and scientists coming together to explore a subject for four or five weeks during January and February. Everything is free and everyone are welcome. There are workshops and discussions, sometimes live webinars, where people from all around the world share a learning experience or two - as you can join more than one EVO session, this year 10 are on offer.

I've joined Neuroscience in Education: Braining-Up Your English Lessons. Why? A part of me just wants to do everything at the same time, but it turns out I also had some mythical reasons. Puzzled? Well, let me explain. This little post of mine is not just a post. Every EVO participant needs to have a portfolio, so this is also the inaugural post of my first EVO portfolio. During EVO's week 1, we had to introduce ourselves with the basics of how brains work and some commonly accepted brain myths. It turns out - learning styles are something of a myth, as are multiple intelligences. I'm not sure if I like that. I grew very fond of learning styles and they helped me understand myself and my students better. I'll still give this a chance, maybe I learn even more.

There's another thing that struck me. In the material on Brain Basics (unfortunately I do not know the author or where it came from), I came across a very strong claim of what philosophy calls materialism:

All perceptions, thoughts and behaviors result from combinations of signals among neurons.

Sounds lacking in romance? No spirits or wonder? Well, judge for yourself:

If all of that is true, then do we know how a thought is formed? This opens door to so many unbelievable Matrix meets Inception and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind possibilities. Can we actually plant a thought into someone's brain?

Here are some more brain myths - see how well you fare:

Test Your Brain Knowledge from Carla Arena

So there's my food for thought, my ideas to mull on and explore.

What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient... highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere. (Inception, 2010)

Are we JUST a sum of our parts? Are we a SUM of our parts? Or is there something more? Why introduce the more at all? And why not?

Well, no more or no less, I leave you with an anecdote on how wondrous whatever we are may be:

Teacher: What can we see in the sky?

Pupil One (8): A star!

Pupil Two(8): A moon!

Pupil Three(8): Pretty rainbows!

Teacher: Good job!! And what else!!

Pupil Four(8): A black hole!!

Pupil Five (8): No you can't see it with the naked eye - they're anomalies!!!!

Love to all,

Over&out,

Do

Naming

When a baby comes to this world, they need someone to contain their feelings and name their needs so that they could, in time, do it for themselves. I don't really know at which point we're supposed to be fully equipped to name and identify everything we feel and need, but it happens for some sooner and for some later. And the truth is that for mountain chains of natural and human phenomena most adults have no idea what they really are and how to define them. Maybe the problem isn't solely in misunderstanding, but in the mode of expression as well: Some things cannot be said. Suzanne LaBarre, a senior editor at Co.Design, at the beginning of her article on philographics says:

It takes the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 28,250 words to explain the woolly concept of relativism. It takes Genis Carreras 32 words and a single image.

So hereby I present to you Philographics and Philographics 2 by Genis Carreras. Maybe they'll make this world a little bit clearer before we embark on the journey called 2013. Clicking on the images below will take you to larger images on Carreras' website.

Love to all near and far,

Dora

Be all ears

Many people take refuge in headphones, but they turn big, public spaces like this, shared soundscapes, into millions of tiny, little personal sound bubbles.(Julian Treasure @TEDGlobal 2011)

“We spend roughly 60 percent of our communication time listening, but we’re not very good at it. We retain just 25 percent of what we hear.”

(Julian Treasure @TEDGlobal 2011)

I guess I could copy/paste videos and a couple of quotes to make my task easier this morning, but I need to explain the point I see in it all. I've been writing a lot about learning styles and understanding oneself so this one could understand others, but this time I'm about to be a little more specific.

Everyone reading this blog know by now that our learning styles influence the way we communicate with others, and for teachers that means that their learning styles influence their teaching styles and perception of what's happening in a classroom. "You're not listening to me!!" and any of its variants in any of the world languages is probably one of the most commonly heard utterances (not just in a classroom). But what does it really mean?

I gave a presentation recently and started it with: "Could you take a piece of paper now and make a table like the one on the screen?" and someone said "What makes you think we've got paper and pen?" A brilliant point. What does make me think people bring papers and pens to presentations?, thought the person with a special notebook just for presentations and a particular appreciation for good stationery. Starting from our own habits and values, can lead us to believe someone is not responding to us in a desired way. If someone's rhythmically tapping their pen during a lesson and looking out of a window - it says nothing on how attentive they are. I know a person who closes their eyes during meetings - to the horror of all attending, but trust me they're one of the best listeners I know. They're remembering and analyzing what's being said to amazing detail and phenomenal precision, while some people may be lead to conclude they're dozing off...

At one point Julian Treasure in his TEDtalk mentions we've been  losing our ability to listen because we've come up with ways of recording what we've heard. My first response is that I think I listen better because I'm recording what I hear, but a part of me does wonder if my use of writing has made me a lazy listener. Furthermore, listening is at the very core of empathy. If we want to help our kids empathize better, we need to help them really listen and also be good listeners, in order to give them the experience of being listened to.

There's so much noise we're living in. Everything is screaming at us in order to get our attention, no wonder the kids scream as much as they do. So take a moment to listen. The video on busting the Mehrabian myth is here to point to the relevance of words themselves in any spoken discourse. The TEDtalk video is here to remind us about the importance of listening and to help us listen better. Make the moment especially silent.

Vivaldi is here to greet the snow and give you a chance to try out what Mr Treasure speaks about - How many channels can you hear? How many filters can you use?

Listen well to what's being said, then you'll understand what's not. 

(from the cover of an old Morning Glory notebook. ;))

All my love,
Dora

Musicality

I've always loved BBC's tests - There's always something nice to learn. So click on the picture above to find out just how musical you really are. Maybe there's a hidden talent. ;) It can also be used with more advanced students - music is something everyone can relate to in some ways.

*Imagine Prince's Musicology playing for end credits.*

Over & out,
Do

On Prezi

You might have noticed I use a presentation tool which somewhat differs from the usual Power Point. It's called Prezi and I love it very much. I've blogged about it before and you can find the post if you click here, but what made me blog about it again is a Prezi about Prezi made by Prezi team.

I think I liked it so much because in the first three slides they appeal to the kinaesthetic learners. It might be that they did so unwittingly or not, nonetheless - Prezis are a way to appeal to your students better. So here it is - What makes a Prezi beautiful? in the words of its upkeepers:

Presentation On Presentations on Prezi

Hopefully you're having a great weekend before school starts.
All my love,
Dora

What's up with Hamlet?

This post is for W, who does not believe psychology is a science and has a string of firm arguments to support his hypothesis. ;) :*

Yesterday afternoon we did a sequence of eight one minute activities - each was connected to one of the intelligences from Gardner's theory . We covered all but one - existential. We knew nothing about it - so here is a little about what it is and some ideas on what kind of activities would suit learners with a strong existential intelligence.

If we're to trust Wikipedia, existential intelligence is "Ability to contemplate phenomena or questions beyond sensory data, such as the infinite and infinitesimal.". Or to give it an example - One of my eight-year-old students has a crush on a girl. One day she refused to sit with him, because he had hit her, pulled her hair, hid her pencil case or whatever boys do when they like someone. He sat on the floor next to my desk, crying and screaming: "If she doesn't love me, I do not exist!!!!" "But what do you mean?? I can see you.", I poked him lightly, "..and even touch you." "Yes, but I am nothing." Strong words, aren't they? So young and he's questioning his existence. I'd say that's his existential intelligence speaking. Another example would be students, teachers and professors of philosophy, who spend years and years tackling questions, such as:

Why am I here? Why are we here?
What is around me? Can I trust my senses, if they get so easily cheated?
Are there really ghosts?
What does it mean to die?
Where does the wind rush when it blows?
Why are some people evil? Is being evil a thing of character or just a phase?
Is there life on other planets?
Is it OK to say whatever I want to? Where does my right of speech end?

A colleague here at the course today said he didn't like barbecues because at a barbecue people eat way more meat than they need... Existential learners are likely to be very aware of the world around them in a political and social sense. They might enjoy setting up campaigns to save/help someone or something. They'll like discussing world and community issues, exploring different viewpoints to one thing, coming up with plans to improve the quality of life... They are likely to bring down theories in three short sentences, not because they feel the need to show how smart their are, but because the holes they see in the theory are, for them, too wide to ignore. Don't take it personally - it's not you, it's the theory.

That's it. Now I know why I studied philosophy and why I felt so good surrounded by my class-mates. :)
Could you come up with any activities for existential learners?
All my love,
Do