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Jessica Lindsay-Sonkin

How curiosity changes our brains - 4 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...w-curiosity-changes-our-brains

curiosity brains learning teaching

shared by Jessica Lindsay-Sonkin on 19 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • Jessica Lindsay-Sonkin on 19 Oct 14
     
    A study that shows how curiosity increases the amount of information recalled by the brain, regardless of the subject
  • lauramustardscs on 27 Oct 14
     
    Very cool, thanks for sharing. Reminds me of the book I'm reading now, The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Daniel Levitin (the author of This is Your Brain on Music).
Justin Medved

Kicking off the 2014 Google Science Fair: It's your turn to change the world - 0 views

googleblog.blogspot.ca/...-2014-google-science-fair.html

shared by Justin Medved on 14 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Justin Medved on 14 Feb 14
     
    "Now it's time to do it again: we're calling for students ages 13-18 to submit their brilliant ideas for the fourth annual Google Science Fair, in partnership with Virgin Galactic, Scientific American, LEGO Education and National Geographic. All you need to participate is curiosity and an Internet connection. Project submissions are due May 12, and the winners will be announced at the finalist event at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., on September 22."
garth nichols

Sugata Mitra and the new educational Romanticism - a parody - 0 views

www.digitalcounterrevolution.co.uk/...usseau-educational-romanticism

edtech Rousseau technology counterrevolution staff_development

shared by garth nichols on 21 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • ll children are born to drive their education. The problem is that prior to the digital age there were no child-friendly pedagogic vehicles. Now that the military-industrial complex has created them, parents and teachers should give the keys to the kids as soon as possible and let them head off on their own down the beautifully linear highway of knowledge.
  • One of the empires is the empire of fear. Surely we are not free if our lives are dominated by fear. Although Mitra’s minimal model blithely assumes that children greet everything new with a calm curiosity, Rousseau recognises that children can just as easily respond to the new with fear. To avoid this requires early training. A snippet of his advice on this subject:
  • At another junction on the same road is the empire of habit. We are not free if we are too firmly set in our ways. Hence Rousseau’s advice: “the only habit that a child should be allowed to contract is none. Do not carry him on one arm more than the other; do not accustom him to give one hand rather than the other, to use one more than the other, to want to eat, sleep, or be active at the same hours…Prepare from afar the reign of his freedom…” (63) (Sir Ken Robinson’s critique of the school bell is but a footnote to this.)
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  • If tools are needed, he suggested, it is better that we make them ourselves, and for the sake of the children’s freedom it is better that they acquire the belief that the imperfect tools they make themselves are better than perfect tools made by others.
  • he great Romantic pedagogy of liberation becomes a parody of itself when it loses sight of how vulnerable the child is to a myriad imperial forces, reducing itself to the myopic claim that the only thing children need to be liberated from is teachers.
  • Of course, the child must feel at every step of the way that she is making the discoveries, or, as Rousseau says of his Emile in his now outdated language: “let him always believe he is the master” but, he reminds the tutor, “let it always be you who are.” (120)
  • Rousseau suggests beginning the scientific part of a child’s education with some geographical discovery learning. He has a nice criticism of his EdTech contemporaries: “You want to teach geography to this child, and you go and get globes, cosmic spheres, and maps for him. So many devices! Why all these representations? Why do you not begin by showing him the object itself so that he will at least know what you are talking about?” (168)
  • If curiosity and attention need cultivation and direction, they also need protection. Rousseau sees a particular risk with the sciences – and this is one which online learning surely magnifies, not diminishes. He puts it beautifully, describing the entry into science as something that can be like entering “into a bottomless sea…When I see a man, enamoured of the various kinds of knowledge, let himself be seduced by their charm and run from one to the other without knowing how to stop himself, I believe I am seeing a child on the shore gathering shells and beginning by loading himself up with them; then, tempted by those he sees next, he throws some away and picks up others, until, overwhelmed by their multitude and not knowing anymore which to choose, he ends by throwing them all away and returning empty-handed.” (172)
  • In a parallel way, learning emerges at the edge of chaos where children meet Google, and it emerges with the same spontaneity seen when the first amoeba dragged itself out of the primordial soup.
  • “The man who did not know pain would know neither the tenderness of humanity nor the sweetness of commiseration. His heart would be moved by nothing. He would not be sociable; he would be a monster among his kind.” (87)
  • Rousseau makes a point more specifically about the psychology of the child, arguing that it is damaging for children to be encouraged to learn things that are beyond the developing sphere of their experience.
  • Children become accustomed to parroting the truth instead of perceiving for themselves that something is true.
  • No child ever came face to face with his mortality when his avatar was struck by a pixelated bullet. No, the child learns infinitely more about the human condition from a single bout of toothache than from 1,000 hours of online gaming.
  • Mitra’s minimalism is not just the minimalism of a hands-off approach to teaching; it is also the minimalism of a theory that – in that questionable analytic tradition – wants to limit itself to technique. All we are given is a methodology – the theoretical equivalent of the automotive machinery that children can drive.
  • garth nichols on 21 Apr 14
     
    This is a real eye-opener for the counter-digital-revolution perspective. It's good to keep these perspectives in mind as we chart our way forward because these ideas can help temper our enthusiasm for tech as a panacea
Justin Medved

CK-12 Science Simulations - 6 views

interactives.ck12.org/simulations

science

shared by Justin Medved on 22 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • Justin Medved on 22 Sep 14
     
    Always wondered why a violin sounds different than a guitar? Or what size mirror you need to see your entire body? Or what keeps a bobsled on its track? Say hello to CK-12's latest product: Interactive Simulations! Discover a whole new way of teaching. Play with these rich, free immersive experiences to teach core physics concepts through daily real world experiences. These simulations immerse students in an interactive learning experience using real world context combined with math or science content. So go ahead, spark their curiosity - help them learn, interact and have fun!
Christina Schindler

How to Praise Your Child and Encourage a Growth Mindset | Motion Math - 2 views

motionmathgames.com/and-encourage-a-growth-mindset

collaboration growth mindset praise Education cohort21 learning

shared by Christina Schindler on 19 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • How to Praise Your Child and Encourage a Growth Mindset
  • The right kind motivates students to learn.” - Carol Dweck
    • Christina Schindler
      Christina Schindler on 19 Nov 14
       
      Good summary of the research and data that explains the science behind this idea -- a key component of the PD conversation with teachers when discussing how we can implement this as a school-wide tool for communication & feedback 
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Being mindful about how you praise your child can help your child foster a growth mindset and boost his or her motivation, resilience and learning
  • Citing specific behaviors such as the amount of time spent or the approach your learner is taking to figure out the task enables the child to connect their actions with results. Additionally, the praise needs to be sincere, otherwise your kid will discredit all praise – insincere and sincere.
    • Christina Schindler
      Christina Schindler on 19 Nov 14
       
      The parent perspective is key part of a meaningful conversation on mindset, especially in the learning environment.  Trying to shift the focus away from marks alone -- towards the effort, energy and experience of learning is significant.  It is also not easy. I've included articles like this as part of the parent communication piece on how we are implementing a growth mindset perspective.  
  • “I’m proud of you for sticking with it and taking the time to understand the concepts you’re trying to learn.”
  • “I noticed you spent a lot of time figuring out your homework – I’m happy that you’re so dedicated. Let’s work together to figure out what you don’t understand.”
  • “When you ask questions to figure out what you’re doing, I appreciate your curiosity.” or “It makes us happy that we can discuss these activities.” – show your child that you value curiosity, intellectually stimulating conversations and the exploration of ideas.
  • Christina Schindler on 19 Nov 14
     
    This is an interesting perspective on the parent voice in the larger conversation about how feedback contributes to a growth mindset. 
Marcie Lewis

Exploratorium: the museum of science, art and human perception - 1 views

www.exploratorium.edu

education science museum interactive resources

shared by Marcie Lewis on 05 Jan 13 - Cached
  • Marcie Lewis on 05 Jan 13
     
    The Exploratorium is a museum of science, art, and human perception in San Francisco. The website offers a place where students can explore their curiosity through videos, reading, educational games, and other activities. There is a wealth of scientific information that is engaging for young people!
garth nichols

Stop Penalizing Boys for Not Being Able to Sit Still at School - Jessica Lahey - The At... - 1 views

www.theatlantic.com/...276976

whole-child Boys_Education

shared by garth nichols on 02 Jul 13 - No Cached
  • The authors of this study conclude that teacher bias regarding behavior, rather than academic perfor
  • mance, penalizes boys as early as kindergarten. On average, boys receive lower behavioral assessment scores from teachers, and those scores affect teachers' overall perceptions of boys' intelligence and achievement.
  • The most effective lessons included more than one of these elements: Lessons that result in an end product--a booklet, a catapult, a poem, or a comic strip, for example. Lessons that are structured as competitive games. Lessons requiring motor activity. Lessons requiring boys to assume responsibility for the learning of others. Lessons that require boys to address open questions or unsolved problems. Lessons that require a combination of competition and teamwork. Lessons that focus on independent, personal discovery and realization. Lessons that introduce drama in the form of novelty or surprise.
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  • Split the class into groups of four and spread them around the room. Each team will need paper and pencils. At the front of the room, place copies of a document including all of the material that has been taught in some sort of graphical form--a spider diagram, for example. Then tell the students that one person from each group may come up to the front of the classroom and look at the document for thirty seconds. When those thirty seconds are up, they return to their group and write down what they remember in an attempt to re-create the original document in its entirety. The students rotate through the process until the group has pieced the original document back together as a team, from memory. These end products may be "graded" by other teams, and as a final exercise, each student can be required to return to his desk and re-create the document on his own.
  • Rather than penalize the boys' relatively higher energy and competitive drive, the most effective way to teach boys is to take advantage of that high energy, curiosity, and thirst for competition. While Reichert and Hawley's research was conducted in all-boys schools, these lessons can be used in all classrooms, with both boys and girls.
  • garth nichols on 02 Jul 13
     
    Great article on Boys' Education
amy_mcgrath86

Cultivating the Habits of Self-Knowledge and Reflection | Edutopia - 1 views

www.edutopia.org/...owledge-reflection-terry-heick

reflection education edutopia cohort21

shared by amy_mcgrath86 on 17 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • As a teacher, your "self" is embedded within your teaching -- which is how it goes from a job to a craft. The learning results are yours.
  • it makes sense that students' self-defense mechanisms kick in when they're challenged.
  • Lack of apparent curiosity Apathy Refusal to take risks Decreased creativity Defeated tones Scrambles for shortcuts
  • ...29 more annotations...
  • Help them to separate themselves from their work and related performance. Help them to understand that our lives aren't single decisions, but a vast tapestry of connections, with any single moment, performance or failure barely visible, and only important as it relates to their lives as a whole.
  • How do I respond when I'm challenged, both inwardly and outwardly? Which resources and strategies do I tend to favor, and which do I tend to ignore? What can I do to make myself more aware of my own thinking and emotions? What happens if I don’t change anything at all?
  • Like anything, it is first a matter of visibility -- understand what is necessary, seeing it when it happens, emphasizing and celebrating it, etc.
  • The more that students see themselves face major and minor challenges in the classroom, and then see the effects of how they respond, the more conditioned they'll become to responding ideally on their own.
  • How we feel and think about ourselves matters in learning.
  • tudents' self-defense mechanisms kick in when
  • they're challenged
  • STEM concepts,
  • matter of visibility -- understand what is necessary,
  • seeing it when it happens, emphasizing and celebrating it
  • atter of pra
  • tice.
  • epetition.
  • aching to student
  • can’t fully separate the person from the task
  • students' self-defense mechanisms kick in when they're challenged.
  • symptoms
  • not wanting to make mistakes, to fail, to be corrected, or to be thought less of by peers
  • in the face of a challenge
  • four questions they can use to begin this kind of reflection
  • how can we begin to promote self-knowledge and reflection in the classroom?
  • establish these actions as habits
  • irst a matter of visibility
  • nderstand what is necessary,
  • having them journal, share
  • reflect on both the challenge and their response.
  • matter of practice
  • The more that students see themselves face major and minor challenges
  • responding ideally on their own
  • glgodkin on 17 Oct 15
     
    things to think about with reflection exercises
  • amy_mcgrath86 on 17 Oct 15
     
    Reflection in the classroom
amacrae

The Third Teacher - 1 views

DIIGO_FILE_HOME/5qz9p/5nc2

shared by amacrae on 19 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • 2Getting Started with the Physical EnvironmentOVERALL ...It is both an art and a science to design (as opposed to decorate) a learning environment that responds to our ultimate goal as educators – to develop independent and rigorous thought. Therefore, if we want to foster discovery and reflection, dialogue and the sharing of ideas, the overall physical environment should include:•A large gathering space for whole-group work and discussions, located near whiteboards, easels and/or projector screens.•A gathering space for small-group and whole-group discussions – where students can see clearly the representations of learning that are posted on boards or screens and hear classmates as they share ideas.•Flexible and reconfigurable space for small-group collaborative work and inquiry – space must allow for groupings of various sizes, such as pairs, triads and groups of four or more.•Desks and tables configured to facilitate discussion by allowing eye contact with peers and teacher, the unencumbered flow of traffic and enough space for students to write collaboratively.•Active areas for inquiry, investigation and wonder and quiet areas for thinking and exploring technology – all areas need to be accessible to students for communicating and documenting their own learning (e.g., computers, computer software, tablets, digital cameras and video recorders, document cameras, interactive white boards).•Instructional materials organized in such a way as to provide easy selection and access for all students – materials may include computer software, educational web sites and applications, found materials, graphic organizers, newspapers and other media, resource texts, etc.FOR MATHEMATICS ...Mathematically literate students demonstrate the capacity to “formulate, employ and interpret mathematics” (OECD, 2012, p. 4); they view themselves as mathematicians, knowing that mathematics can be used to understand important issues and to solve meaningful problems, not just in school but in life. By extension, the physical environment for mathematics learning should include: •Spaces where students can use manipulatives to solve problems and record their solutions.•Board and/or wall space to display student solutions for Math Congress and Bansho – student solutions should be easily visible from the group gathering space.•Space to post co-created reference charts such as glossary terms and past and current summaries of learning that specifically support the development of the big ideas currently under study.•Instructional materials organized in such a way as to provide easy selection and access for all students; may include mathematics manipulatives, calculators and other mathematical tools, mathematical texts, hand-held technology.FOR LITERACY ... Today’s literate learners experience “a constant stream of ideas and information” – they need strategies for interpretation and making sense and lots of practice in identifying meaning, bias and perspective (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2009, 2006). By extension, the physical environment for literacy learning should include: •Spaces where students can talk, listen, read and write.A place for wonder, mystery and discovery ...“We need to think about creating classroom environments that give children the opportunity for wonder, mystery and discovery; an environment that speaks to young children’s inherent curiosity and innate yearning for exploration is a classroom where children are passionate about learning and love school.” (Heard & McDonough, 2009)
  • maintain that the key to learning in today’s world is not just the physical space we provide for students but the social space as well (
  • A large gathering space
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • mall-
l5johnso

The Other 21st Century Skills | User Generated Education - 0 views

usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/...the-other-21st-century-skills

cohort21

shared by l5johnso on 22 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • Education as it should be – passion-based. The Other 21st Century Skills with 19 comments Many have attempted to identify the skills important for a learner today in this era of the 21st century (I know it is an overused phrase).  I have an affinity towards the skills identified by Tony Wagner: Critical thinking and problem-solving Collaboration across networks and leading by influence Agility and adaptability Initiative and entrepreneurialism Effective oral and written communication Accessing and analyzing information Curiosity and imagination   http://www.tonywagner.com/7-survival-skills Today I viewed a slideshow created by Gallup entitled, The Economics of Human Development: The Path to Winning Again in Education. Here are some slides from this presentation. This
  • presentation sparked my thinking about what other skills and attributes would serve the learners (of all ages) in this era of learning.  Some other ones that I believe important based on what I hear at conferences, read via blogs and other social networks include: Grit Resilience Hope and Optimism Vision Self-Regulation Empathy and Global Stewardship
  • Self-regulation is a complex process involving numerous motivational, affective, cognitive, physiological and behavioral factors that individuals proactively direct and manage in order to attain self-set goals (Zeidner, Boekaerts, & Pintrich, 2000). It is a broad construct incorporating behaviors and strategies utilized by individuals across their lifespan to modulate or control their own emotional and behavioral responses. Students who self-regulate believe that they are responsible for their own learning and are more adept at dictating what, where, and how their learning occurs (Bandura, 2006). These students often persist longer through academic tasks and display higher levels of motivation and achievement (Schunk & Ertmer, 2000; Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001)
garth nichols

Change the Subject: Making the Case for Project-Based Learning | Edutopia - 0 views

www.edutopia.org/...s-larry-rosenstock-rob-riordan

project based learning staff_development learning projectbasedlearning

shared by garth nichols on 11 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • What should students learn in the 21st century? At first glance, this question divides into two: what should students know, and what should they be able to do? But there's more at issue than knowledge and skills.
  • For the innovation economy, dispositions come into play: readiness to collaborate, attention to multiple perspectives, initiative, persistence, and curiosity. While the content of any learning experience is important, the particular content is irrelevant. What really matters is how students react to it, shape it, or apply it. The purpose of learning in this century is not simply to recite inert knowledge, but, rather, to transform it.1 It is time to change the subject.
  • Expanding the "Big Four" Why not study anthropology, zoology, or environmental science? Why not integrate art with calculus, or chemistry with history? Why not pick up skills and understandings in all of these areas by uncovering and addressing real problems and sharing findings with authentic audiences? Why not invent a useful product that uses electricity, or devise solutions to community problems, all the while engaging in systematic observation, collaborative design, and public exhibitions of learning?
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • What might students do in such schools, in the absence of prescribed subjects? They might work together in diverse teams to build robots, roller coasters, gardens, and human-powered submarines. They might write and publish a guide to the fauna and history of a nearby estuary, or an economics text illustrated with original woodcuts, or a children's astronomy book. They might produce original films, plays, and spoken word events on adolescent issues, Japanese internment, cross-border experiences, and a host of other topics. They might mount a crime scene exhibition linking art history and DNA analysis, or develop a museum exhibit of World War I as seen from various perspectives. They might celebrate returning warriors, emulating the bard in Beowulf, by interviewing local veterans and writing poems honoring their experiences. The possibilities are endless.
  • Changing the subject, then, means deriving the curriculum from the lived experience of the student. In this view, rather than a collection of fixed texts, the curriculum is more like a flow of events, accessible through tools that help students identify and extract rich academic content from the world: guidelines and templates for project development, along with activities and routines for observation and analysis, reflection, dialogue, critique, and negotiation.
garth nichols

Do You have the Personality To Be an Inquiry-Based Teacher? | MindShift - 3 views

blogs.kqed.org/...to-be-an-inquiry-based-teacher

inquiry 21st Century Learning PBL

shared by garth nichols on 30 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • Are you optimistic? Viewing the world as damaged or the future as bleak shuts down the brain by transmitting fear. Maintaining an optimistic attitude is an expression of love, inspiring curiosity and hope, and fostering emotional and physical health. Optimism is essential to teaching: Without hope, the reason to learn disappears. Are you open? The world is being refreshed and powered by divergent thinking. Outcomes are unclear, even dangerous. But faith in the flexible thinking of the human mind can support young people as they sort out their new world and have the freedom to discover solutions not yet visible. An open attitude activates the frontal lobes, the place of flow and creativity. Are you appreciative? Deep appreciation gives permission for failure, rather than penalizing for the “wrong” answer. It honors the stops and starts of human development. It conveys the ultimate message of a communal world: We are in this together. Are you flexible? In inquiry, the journey matters as much as the destination. Constant reflection is a necessity to improving thinking and doing. Metacognition encourages wisdom, the ultimate goal of any worthy education system. Flexibility tells the brain and heart to keep working, keep going—you’re getting there. Are you purposeful? Purpose binds teacher and student into the high-minded pursuit of solutions that matter. It is the reason that “authentic” education works and inauthentic education struggles. It tightens the connection between the learner and the teacher in ways that spur the natural creative impulse to change and improve the world.
  • garth nichols on 30 Apr 14
     
    This is an important list of attributes for 21st Century Teaching. As schools and teachers are looking to PBL, we often don't think about what is required in the social-emotional realm of teaching that will allow PBL to fly...here's some good info' on this...
mrsganley

Rethinking Education: Self-Directed Learning Fits the Digital Age | Innovation Insights... - 3 views

www.wired.com/...-learning-fits-the-digital-age

shared by mrsganley on 05 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Education should not be about teaching to the next level
  • True learning is intrinsically motivated and the reward is knowledge.
  • Our teachers are stuck within the confines of a system that no longer serves our children.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Our educational system is built on the premise that the adult teacher has all the information which he or she will impart onto the child who will then show that he has mastered the grade level material by filling in answer choices where the test provides you with the desired answer.
  • Imagine providing children with the tools to learn in a prepared environment and then giving them the freedom to explore and experience that environment driven solely by their own curiosity
  • expose them to ideas, provide resources and then allow children the freedom to let their imaginations wander in a supportive environment
  • we do not need a society solely made up of generalists
  • Allow your child to be a specialist who learns deeply and see how they fluorish when they are in the driver’s seat of their own education.
  • more useful to be able to think critically, brainstorm ideas and figure out how to solve problems then it is to be able to recite a list of facts.
    • Sarah Bylsma
      Sarah Bylsma on 05 Jan 14
       
      Key!
  • garth nichols on 06 Jan 14
     
    Thanks for this Sarah! It's an article that is hitting on a key concept we discussed in our last F2F in November: what is the role of knowledge in becoming a specialist. Thanks for this!
garth nichols

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs184/1102752268498/archive/1122580804441.html - 1 views

archive.constantcontact.com/...1122580804441.html

feedback coaching PD cohort21

shared by garth nichols on 23 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • In my mind, a solid 4 rating means that your adult professional embraces feedback, both formal and informal and has strong systems and processes in place that encourage feedback - things like annual faculty,  parent, and board surveys, intentionally designed evaluation processes for students, faculty, staff and leadership that happen at minimum annually, but even better quarterly, regular audits of programs, curriculum, pedagogy, time and space.  Other good signs that your culture supports feedback might be meetings that end with questions like, "How are we working together as a team/department?" and "What can we do to get better at this work?"  and school leaders who ask their reports with genuine curiosity,  "What can I do to better support your work?"  "What do you think about this idea?" or "How did this meeting go for you?"
  • What if you spent a week "playing anthropologist" with the following question in mind: "What evidence do I see that our adult community has a strong culture of feedback?" 
    • garth nichols
      garth nichols on 23 Oct 15
       
      Love these questions of educators!
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • pend some time with colleagues. Ask them questions about their classes.  See how many times you hear someone ask questions like: "What do you think about this?"  "Will you come by my class and let me know what you think about this lesson I am teaching?"  "How can I/we do this better?"  Attend meetings with this question in mind.  How receptive are team members to feedback they get in meetings?
  • talk Feedback Without Frustration.  This 15 minute video offers some key habits and practices that designers (and educational leaders in their roles as experience designers) can adopt in order to make feedback more meaningful, especially when presenting a new idea or product and much of which can be applied to feedback - both formal and informal.  A few tips include:taking responsibility for the feedback you are gettinggoing after the kind of feedback you wanthaving a designated facilitator for more significant processeshaving goals for the project that you can use to make the feedback more helpfulnot confusing what you like/don't like with what is good/bad(most importantly) just getting better at talking to each other.
  • garth nichols on 23 Oct 15
     
    For those of us who lead teachers; for those of us who seek feedback from others; and for those of us who want to buid a culture of sharing and feedback, this is a great read!
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