A Whole New Mind – Essay

A Whole New Mind Almarene Lowndes EDL 546 – Summer 2012 May 31, 2012 A whole new mind is a must read for ALL teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders. This book has inspired me to seriously think about my own teaching practices as I strive to prepare my students and I for professional success. After reflecting on the concepts in Daniel Pinks’ book I have asked myself if my school District and I are effectively preparing my students for the future?With budget cuts, high stakes testing, and pressure to raise student test scores have we failed to foster activities that enable students to utilize their brains right hemisphere ultimately, leaving them unequipped for our future? We have reduced the amount of time elementary students spend in Art, Music, and PE. In my own Kindergarten classroom I often struggle with allowing my students to build their creativity because of the pressure of time constraints and adhering to learning schedules/pacing guides.In the introduc tion, Pink gives background knowledge on the functions of the left and right hemispheres of the brain and clears up misconceptions that many people hold. Pink tells us that the left and right hemispheres of the brain work together. However, the left hemisphere is sequential which gives it the capability to analyze details and the right hemisphere is simultaneous which aids in synthesizing the bigger picture. This information can easily be related to teaching. When teaching my kindergarten students concepts of print, phonemic awareness, and phonics I am tapping into my students left hemisphere.For example, teaching my kindergarteners that we read from left to right, learning the alphabet, and decoding are activities that utilize their left hemisphere. The use of lower to higher level questioning requires students to utilize their left and right hemisphere as well. For example, after reading a story to my class, we discuss and answer questions about the texts we have read. When I ask my students to recall information from a story the left hemisphere is more active. However, when I ask my students higher-level questions that require them to think beyond the story their brains are eliciting help form the right hemisphere.Examples, of these types of questions are: how do you think the character feels, what is the most important part of the story, and what personal connections can you make to the story? Even things such as speech, fluency, and cadence of a story require students to utilize their brains right hemisphere. In a cleverly titled section called: Fear and Loathing in My Amygdales n Pink describes, â€Å"the two almond-shaped structures that serve as the brain’s Homeland Security. † They are called amygdalas. The function of these structures is to process emotions particularly fear.He explained that the left hemisphere is more active in processing this information. I found it interesting when he stated that the right amygdala is stimulated whe n processing faces. It is able to analyze the parts of a face as a whole to come to a conclusion about how one feels. Pink mentioned that this idea transcends to any culture. As an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) certified teacher, I most often receive students who do not speak the English language. One strategy that I use is facial expressions to convey meaning which I now know requires support from our brains right hemisphere.According to Pink our culture has always held L-Directed Thinkers such as lawyers and engineers in high esteem. He points out that now value is being placed on the R-Directed Thinkers such as artist, counselors, and inventors. While I would argue, that both types are thinkers are needed. In my own classroom I would like to make a conscious effort to foster both types of thinkers so that my students can successfully integrate both ways of thinking into their lives. According to Pink teachers live R-Directed lives. However, in my organization I f eel our way of thinking is not supported in the way that the school system is currently structured.There are some key points that I feel our school system should adopt. Furthermore, these same themes can be used in my own classroom to produce learners who are L and R- Directed Thinkers. The themes that resonate with me the most are: Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. â€Å"Symphony†¦ is the ability to put together the pieces. It is the capacity to synthesize rather than to analyze; to see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields; to detect broad patterns rather than to deliver specific answers; and to invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to pair. Empathy is defined as putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Play is the idea that work is not just about being serious it is about play as well. Meaning focuses on seeking purpose and the greater good. I would like to think of myself as a sympathetic teacher like Mr. Bomeisler. I am very encouraging as I touch every child while I am working. In my own classroom I strive to help my students reach the highest level of learning, which is synthesizing. Conversely, I have fallen short because while I help my students see relationships between related fields, I need to strive to help them see the relationships between unrelated fields.In many ways I have missed those opportunities to help my students develop their powers of Symphony through simple tasks like drawing, listening to classical music, and celebrating amateurness. I feel that many K-12 teachers struggle with this in their teaching. An example of this is in team teaching. In team teaching a group of teachers, working together, plan, conduct, and evaluate the learning activities for the same group of students. In practice, team teaching has many different formats but in general it is a means of organizing staff into groups to enhance teaching.Teams generally comprise staff members who may represent different are as of subject expertise but who share the same group of students and a common planning period to prepare for the teaching. To facilitate this process a common teaching space is desirable. Team teachers and teachers alike must begin to see the connections between subject areas themselves in order to help students to achieve this. Most often you will hear someone who teaches Science say, â€Å"I do not teach Reading. † This as you may of guessed is untrue since teaching Science is teaching the components of nonfiction text.I also feel, that most schools don’t allow teachers the opportunities to plan together and discuss the relationships between their fields. Many administrators are not empathetic to the idea that if we really want students to be successful they must allow us the time to engage in conversations and planning with each other. Most often team teachers as is the case at my school do not even have the same planning time. We can improve this at my school by al lowing time for us to plan together not only as teammates but as grade levels. In our mailroom it would be cool if we had an inspiration board.This simple idea will help us to expand our minds. Lastly, I suggest that we read and discuss books as grade levels such as: Dialogue, Metaphors We Live By, and No Waste. We always are given professional development books to read when we are given the time to get together. How powerful would it be for the R-Direct Thinkers in my organizations if we were allowed the opportunity to read and discuss these books? You would think that in my organization everyone is empathetic and in turn teaches students to empathize with one another.I am very empathetic and must say that I do wonderful job of guiding my students as they develop relationships with one another. I model this as I develop relationships with not only my students but my parents as well. On the other hand it saddens me to say that every teacher is not empathetic. My mom always told me t hat, â€Å"students don’t learn until they learn that you care. † When you build valuable relationships with students and parents it increases students achievement. In my school environment I feel that we should start with being empathetic with each other.Very few principles show empathy for their employees, which make it hard to foster caring relationships with colleagues at work. Recently, school climates have shifted from working together to competing against each other. As odd as it may sound I would argue that many teachers do not even trust each other. For example, First grade teachers do not trust that Kindergarten teachers have effectively taught their students. Second grade teachers do not trust that First grade teachers have done their jobs. This trend goes from grade to grade.As a result, teachers spend valuable instructional time re teaching information to students. Instructional time should be fun to students. At times I often forget this simple concept. A s a teacher I have found it my personal goal to find creative ways to put the fun back into teaching and learning. On my quest to fulfill this goal there are several suggestions from Pink that I will use to do this. One thing that my group members at JU and I are studying is how can we use gaming to increase students’ achievement? According to Pink, gaming plays a significant role in learning.James Paul Gee argues that games can be the ultimate learning machine. I might also add that games are fun and engaging for students. Next year, I plan to bring my Wii to school and allow students to play games such as Reading Rabbit and Sesame Street in my classroom. Another way that my organization and I can foster the idea of play is being humorous with our students and us. The pressures of high stakes testing, time management, and top bottom pressure exerted on teachers have caused us to become less and less humorous and joyful.There are things that we can do to bring humor and joy i nto teaching. Some immediate ideas that come to mind are simply playing with our students. It is so fun to play on the playground with my students. Not only does this bring me joy but also it brings my students an equal amount of joy and humor in watching me do things that are out of the box for adults. Not only should we play with kids but we should also play with each other. I remember one year some colleagues and I decided to form a kickball team to play on this kickball league one of us had heard about.Not only did allow me to forget about the pressures of teaching it allowed us to empathize with each other through the simple act of playing. Which in turn made us more pleasant at work. Another idea that the educational organization should adopt is getting our â€Å"game on. † Not only should we utilize gaming in the classroom we should participate in gaming ourselves. Lastly, I feel that administrators and facilitators should start meetings by dissecting jokes. This is so mething that I can immediately implement when I facilitate myself.I can also do this with my kindergarteners by using simple jokes starting with knock-knock jokes. Developing happiness through play can add meaning to not only learning but our jobs as well. It is said, that we â€Å"are born for meaning† and live for self-expression and an opportunity to share that which we feel is important. I believe that at some point in time every teacher is passionate about his or her job and are often looking for the opportunity to share his or her expertise. Somehow this passion fades as we stop looking inside ourselves to make meaning out of our jobs.Something that my grade level has done to build meaning is utilizing teardrops. Every teacher on my grade level purchased a small pail to place teardrops in. Each of us was given paper made teardrops that we use to show our gratitude for things that we have done, or modeled, or shared with one another. For example, I was once given a teard rop for staying late to help the people who were new to my grade level fill out student snapshots after I was already done. I gave a tear to another teacher for allowing me the gift of observing her teach a lesson to her students on connections.In my opinion this simple act can add a sense of purpose to our job. This can be implemented on all grade levels and adapted to our students. Pink states that Right-Brainers will rule the future. As teachers we can equip our students for this new era. Administrators can help R-Directed thinkers such as ourselves by creating an environment that is conducive to the way that we think. By implementing simple strategies suggested in A Whole New Mind we can once again find joy in teaching as we strive to increase student achievement.There are many pearls that I have taken from this book. One of the pearls I have taken from this book is that the simple act of empathizing can help to increase student achievement. Another is the idea that play is esse ntial to my classroom and environment as it brings happiness and joy. Also, it is important to look at things from the bigger picture and lastly, seeking purpose and the greater good seems to define us uniquely as humans. Reference: Pink, D. (2005). A Whole New Mind. New York: The Penguin Group.

Themes from Robinson Crusoe

Themes from Robinson Crusoe One theme from the novel Robinson Crusoe is that one should follow their dreams and go for what they want, even if others do not think that it is the right thing to do. Robinson Cruse's father really wanted him to be a lawyer, but Robinsons dream was to go out to sea. At first he wanted to make his father happy and was willing to do what he said, but then he realized Just how unhappy he himself would be if he did not become a sailor. So he did what he thought was right, and even though there ere many hard times, he got through them all because he knew he was doing exactly what he wanted to do.Another theme from this novel is that you should have persistence, and to never give up on yourself, even in the toughest times. Robinson Crusoe faced many hardships out at sea, and his family was not even around to help him out. But he put on a brave face and handled the problems as well as he could, and everything turned out okay. If Robinson had chosen the life of a lawyer, as his father had wished, he might have been in danger a lot less often, but e would never have known what it was like to follow his heart.I believe that Robinson Crusoe did the right thing, choosing the option that would make him happy instead of his family. Your family can be there to help guide you through life, but ultimately, it will have to be you who decides what you want to do. Robinson Crusoe is a very exciting book with many unexpected twists and turns. Robinson has many adventures, and even though he runs into trouble more often than not, he is a great character who can deal with his problems courageously.

Privacy in the 21st century Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Privacy in the 21st century - Assignment Example Without obtaining any warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). It is extremely unfortunate that the government we entrust to uphold and protect citizen rights is the one denying citizens their rights to privacy. According to Liu (2011), the National Security Agency (NSA), listens to telephone conversation of people suspected of terrorism. This is truly offending since phone calls are highly private and sometimes contains information that might be sensitive to the communicating parties. For example, if one is having a private conversation over the phone with a person close to you like your wife; it is extremely offending when you find out that someone else is listening in on your conversation through another line. The most common type of surveillance done by the government is electronic surveillance, (Levy 2007). Since almost all the communication done is through electronic devices, this is the common type of surveillance. The government may use transmitters r eferred to as â€Å"bugs†. These are tiny electronic devices that are designed to avoid being noticed. Their main function it to transmit signals of what one is communicating. They can be planted in ones cell phone, computer or even devices such as fax machines. There are other types of bugs used by the government that are designed to notify the government of all the movement of the person in question. These â€Å"bugs† are hidden in someone’s personal item such as a wallet; because it goes everywhere they go. There are also other types of bugs that are designed to record video footage. These devices are planted in one's office or home and record everything that happens there, for it to be analyzed by government agencies such as the National Security agency. Other forms of surveillance include wire taps and the use of drones. It is however necessary to note that, due to the advancement of technology, the National Security Agency (NSA) is able to listen to conver sations on cell phones without planting bugs. They are also able to monitor the internet remotely. This is possible through getting into service providers networks and monitoring them. The research gave me a lot of knowledge and information on how the government is able to invade my privacy. Unfortunately, nothing can be done individually. This is because congress has put laws that allow the government to do this. However, through the American justice system we can fight this. Through the Supreme Court, these laws can be amended or even removed. We should come together and fight this invasion of privacy by the government. Amicus Curiae I would like to offer information on behalf of the plaintiff who include Amnesty international and the other organizations in a case no 11-1025 in the supreme court of the United States of America. According to Fagan (2012), the main question in the court case if it is legal for international organizations and lawyers to sue the United States Governme nt because the government conducts surveillance on international communication

Implementing & managing change (in tables) Assignment

Implementing & managing change (in tables) - Assignment Example National planning exercises are fundamentally important undertakings for any government. Nevertheless, the plans drafted to be used in the realization of national goals and objectives may be variant from one country to another due to a number of reasons. Basic to the explanation is that countries often differ in visions, resource endowment as well as the stage of economic development. Moreover, planning documents may be different in on the time stipulated for the development process or realization of the set aims. In this understanding, this paper therefore, focuses on comparing national development plan documents for three countries; England, Scotland as well as the Wales. The analysis will focus on the aims as well as objectives outlined in either, the primary focus of development, time frame within which the plan is to be actualized as well as likelihood of its success. This paper therefore, presents a discussion in segments which will be under the above sub-headings.

History and purpose of BLM Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History and purpose of BLM - Research Paper Example However, during the 19th century the Nation’s land base increased further west , therefore congress was forced to enact a variety of laws including mining and homesteading law of 1872 to ecourage settlement of the land (BLM, 2010). During this period the country was young and therefore these two policies formed part of the major policy goals in the history of U.S. However, with the exception the Desert Land Act which was passed in 1877 and Mining law passed in 1872 by the congress, all the laws have been amended and replaced by other statutes. During the late 19th centuary important events yet again took place, the congress saw the need of creating national game parks, wild life refuges and forests. Therefore, this meant that the land which was occupied by wild life refuges, game parksand forests had to be excluded from the land allowed for settlement (BLM, 2012). This is because the congress had realized that the lands could be set aside for other important activities. In connection to this, the congress saw it fit that these lands should be held in public ownership instead of individual people. During the early 20th century, Congress realized the value of that management of public land is important towards achieving transparency in land use. Therefore, additional steps were taken by congress, where they directed the Executive branch to manage activities paternaing to public lands. However, the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 allowed leasing, exploration, and production of selected commodities, such as coal, oil, gas, and sodium, to take place on public lands (BLM, 2010). In 1934 the congress passed Taylor Grazing Act laws that paved way for the formation of U.S. Grazing Service to manage the public rangelands. While, California and Oregon Act of 1937 required sustained yield management of the timberlands in western Oregon. This led to the

Symbolism and Metaphor in Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Symbolism and Metaphor in Poetry - Essay Example â€Å"Black granite† symbolizes the hard and unbreakable nature of the poet. In the second stanza of the poem Facing It by Yusef K. (1988), â€Å"My clouded reflection eyes me like a bird of prey† is symbolism in simile form. Here the poet symbolizes how bad and shameful he feels when he recalls the past suffering days that are not worth remembering. â€Å"Light† has been used to express hope for a good future. The poet also says â€Å"The profile of night slanted against morning†. Night here symbolizes the bad past which highly depends on a brighter future which is symbolized by morning. â€Å"I’m a window† is another instance of metaphor in the poem Facing It by Yusef K. (1988). Window is used to show that by looking at the poet, people remember the past. â€Å"Smoke†has also been used in the fourth stanza to imply faded and unclear letters. This shows that he is desperate in his options.â€Å"Red bird’swings† is used in the fifth stanza to symbolize a plane. â€Å"Black mirror† has also been used in the sixth stanza of the poem as a symbol of a reflection of the hard times in the past. From the use of symbolism and metaphor in the poem Facing It by Yusef K. (1988), different themes are clearly brought out. The theme of hope and expectation is brought out when the poet says he is â€Å"depending on the light to make a difference†. He hopes morning will come and he will make changes where he can. The theme of racism is also evident. â€Å"A white vet’s image floats† is used to symbolize that the white are highly rated to the extent of using plane than the blacks who only deal with stones as shown by â€Å"My black face fades hiding inside the black granite†. It is clear that the black are viewed as people with no abilities to do anything substantial. In conclusion, symbolism and metaphor are essential aspects of poetry as explained by Timpane J. Watts M. & San Francisco State

Parkinson's disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Parkinson's disease - Essay Example Damaging approximately 60% to 80% of the cells producing dopamine would cause its deficiency and consequently lead to the appearance of PD motor symptoms. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NINDS (2013) refers to this brain cells impairment process as neurodegeneration. Prevalence and Incidence About 1 million people in the US suffer from PD with between 50,000 to 60,000 new cases being diagnosed annually. Worldwide, between 4 million and 6 million people suffer from PD (National Parkinson Foundation, 2013). It has been particularly noted to set in at age 50 to 65 with a lower incidence in African Americans as compared to the Caucasians and 3:2 for male to female ratio incidence (Talan, 2011). Motor Manifestation Years before the motor manifestation, people with PD experience non-motor symptoms including sleep disorders, loss of smell, hyposmia and constipation. The Braak’s hypothesis cited by the NPF (2013) observes its earliest signs in the medulla, particularly the olfactory bulb which controls the sense of smell. It would then gradually progress to the cortex and substantia. Notwithstanding, the four motor symptoms cited by NFP (2013) are cardinal in PD: postural instability, slowness of movement, rigidity and tremor. The well-known symptom of tremor has been referred to as rest tremor by NINDS (2013) as it becomes maximal on rested limbs and disappears with sleep or voluntary movement. It begins with a single leg or arm and later becomes bilateral. The tremors have a frequency of between 4 and 6 Hz. Secondly, the slowness of movement referred to as bradykinesia by NFP (2013) relates to difficulties in the whole movement process: planning, initiation and execution. This early manifestation hinders simultaneous and sequential movement performance indicated by problems related with performance of fine motor controlled tasks like sewing, writing and dressing up. The magnitude would be determined by one’s emotional state or activity. Rigidity would be manifested by stiffness of the limb and resistance to movement due to excessive continuous muscle contraction or muscle tone. This could be uniform or ratchet referred to as lead-pipe and cogwheel rigidity respectively. It could be accompanied by pain. Whereas in the early stages it affects the shoulder and neck muscles, it later progresses to the whole body. Finally, the late stages of the disease exhibits impaired balance causing frequent falls and bone fractures due to postural instability. It would be experienced by 40% of the patients. Talan (2011) adds posture and gait disturbances like festination to the list of these motor manifestations. Diagnosis and Detection Initial diagnosis requires the identification of at least two of these four motor manifestations (NPF, 2013). Bedside examination by a neurologist remains the most basic diagnostic tool for suspect patients. To aid this diagnosis, emergent imaging modalities including PET and DAT scans would be performed by a neuroimaging expert with DATscan playing a critical role of differentiating PD from other essential tremors but cannot indicate the PD subtype. Also to aid in accurate diagnosis would be the need for information on physical and medical examination and also medication history to ascertain the absence of medication that causes symptoms similar to those of PD. The