Carry On

This quote always gets me through challenging times . . .

 

"In your life's journey, there will be excitement and fulfillment, boredom and routine, and even the occasional train wreck... But when you have picked a dream that is bigger than you personally, that truly reflects the ideals you cherish, and that can positively affect others, then you will always have another reason for carrying on."

-Pamela Melroy

Digital Reflection

Show time!

"Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone."

Amy Tan

My 2nd grade students have been working on personal narratives for the past two and a half weeks and in an effort to increase their motivation towards writing and their academic achievement in writing, I stated at the beginning of the project that their stories would be shared with their families, friends and classmates during an author's celebration.  We counted down the days, kept our eyes on the deadline, shared different stages of writing with one another and wrote, wrote wrote.

I put together their illustrations and final writing pieces into individual books and found a site that would publish their stories into a 'real' hard cover book for free!  The class is given a complimentary copy and parents could purchase additional copies at a reasonable price.

Because our classroom has 1:1 iPods, the students recorded themselves reading their stories (they even added a statement like, "When you hear the beep, turn the page....").  These voice memos were uploaded to the class website and a QR code was made for each voice memo.  These QR codes are on the front cover of each book.  Sooooo cool!

This Thursday, my master teacher (who is WONDERFUL)  and I are hosting an author's celebration so the students can share their work with their parents, other teachers, and classmates.  School and district administrators will also attend and the students are nervous, but excited!

So proud of these writers!

Next Steps. . .

"People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.
"

 – Brian Tracy, Author

I'm on my 3rd week of implementing my action plan for my Teacher Inquiry Project, "How does providing an authentic audience for students effect their attitudes and academic achievement in writing?" My master teacher has been extremely supportive and helpful during this process - She gives me the freedom to implement my ideas and plenty of time to work with the students. I'm enjoying watching my 2nd graders progress as writers and find it interesting as I observe my students' love/hate relationships with writing evolve. I'm collecting all sorts of great writing samples, I'm journaling after every lesson and students have been filling out weekly exit slips . . . . I'm quickly accumulating a lot of stuff and I I know I need to make more of a concerted effort to analyze the data in a formative way.  

Here's my plan: In terms of students’ academic achievement, I plan to analyze students’ writing pieces by measuring students’ length of writing pieces, complexity of sentences, number of complete sentences, use of descriptive words, word choice, ability to implement structure into their writing (parts of a letter, parts of a story, etc.) and ability to complete assignments within a given time frame.  The 6+1 writing rubric is the guide that I will be using to help me do this. Chapter 7 of "The Power of Questions" offered an improvement to this particular data analysis idea by encouraging researchers to ask certain questions when analyzing students’ work. Figure 7-1, Questions for Looking at Student Work, contains meaningful questions that I will ask as I am reviewing my students’ writing samples.

1.  What was the context in which the work was created?

2.  What questions does this work raise about the student?

3.  What does this work demonstrate about what the student understands, what the student can do, and how the students meets standards/expectations for the work?

4.  What does this work demonstrate about the students’ growth over time?

5.  What does this work tell about the instruction and learning environment that prompted the work?  How effective were the assignment and teaching strategies?

6.  What does this work suggest about the kind of teaching and opportunities for leanrning that should come next for this student?

A new idea that I acquired from this chapter is to ask my students to take part in “member checks.”  Sharing with students my thoughts and findings about their work and the data I collect can ensure that my students’ points of view are being depicted as authentically as possible.  It will also ensure that I am interpreting behaviors accurately.  Sharing my findings and thoughts could be easily done during discussions or when students are sharing their weekly summaries.  If I notice a pattern during a particular week or lesson, I could voice this to my students, tell them my perception of why this pattern took place, then ask my students if they agree or disagree.

This chapter informs my next steps in data analysis and classroom implementation because it reminds me to take things slow and steady.  Instead of gathering data and looking at it after I’ve accumulated a pile of notes, I should begin organizing and analyzing as I am collecting different types of data.  Not only will this prevent me from making a molehill into a mountain, but it will also help me determine if I am gathering enough appropriate data for each of my subquestions.  

Of course..... all this is easier said than done!

For Boston

I've been terribly saddened and frightened since yesterday's Boston tragedy -- I felt guilty going into the classroom today and to go on, business as usual, while hundreds are mourning over the loss and injury of loved ones.  My thoughts are with 8-year old Martin Richard, 29-year old Krystle Campbell, and the Boston University Graduate student who lost their lives.  My thoughts are with all of those who helped, who are helping and who responded with strength, assistance and courage.

My FIRST Edcanvas

Ready... Set... Go!

"Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect."

 -Alan Cohen

After weeks of assessing and planning and thinking and rethinking, I started off this week jumping straight into my Action Research Inquiry which revolves around the question,

“How does writing for an audience affect students’ achievement in and attitude toward writing?”

I was excited, nervous, scared, and hopeful to start a daily writing program in my second grade classroom and knew that it was going to be a huge change for the students. Being able to write everyday takes practice and I understand that my students will need to build up their endurance for writing. To get them fired up about writing everyday, I introduced the students to their special writing tools, their first writing topic, their first major deadline and their first audience.

Before spring break, the students read several stories by Tommie dePaola and discussed the different elements of a story such as its characters, the setting, the problem and the solution. I told the children that they would be telling a story from their own personal lives and that they would pick the experience they would write about. I explained that they would have three weeks to brainstorm, draft, edit and publish their stories so that they could share them during an author's celebration. During this celebration, other students from the school, parents, administrators and community members would be invited to read their stories AND we would be publishing their stories in a hard cover book so that people could BUY it. The students were stoked. They were all about having their stories in a REAL book that people had to actually pay money for.

I would like to say that after my mini lessons about prewriting, characters, setting, problems and solutions, the students grabbed their pens and pencils and wrote with fervor and enthusiasm. The truth is, while almost all of the kids expressed excitement and motivation during the lessons, their excitement faded as soon as they were sitting in their seats, pencil in hand and paper on desk. Familiar looks of frustration appeared on their faces and the statement, "I don't know what to write," was repeated more than I wanted to hear.

The Good News: After repeating certain questions (Where were you? What did it look like? When did this happen? Who was with you? How did you feel?) students began to warm up and their creative juices began to flow. (For some, their creative juices trickled, but I'll take it). I noticed that encouraging students to talk before they wrote, either to me or to each other, helped in getting them to write their ideas on paper. The trick was asking the right questions and I am hoping I can teach my students to ask each other the 'right' questions so that I do not have to conference with everybody everyday.

If anyone has any advice regarding effective and efficient ways to implement peer feedback, your ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Working Break

"Spring is the time of plans and projects."

-Leo Tolstoy

I have been on Spring Break this past week and although I have not spent time in the classroom, I found myself thinking a lot about my students.  As soon as we get back to school on Monday, my master teacher has given me the freedom to plan and implement a writing program (think "Writer's Workshop") so that I may begin my Action Research.  I'm extremely excited about this and have been gathering ideas, receiving guidance from Dr. Lattimer and Nancy Hanssen, and laying out my game plan.  Because my Action Research is centered around how an authentic audience impacts student attitudes towards and academic achievement in writing, I have planned three main projects for my students to work on until the end of the year -  A narrative story, letter writing, and the retelling of a fairy tale from a different point of view. Each project will be shared with peers throughout the drafting process and the final pieces will be shared through a writer's celebration, the publishing of a hard cover book via Scholastic Teachers, ePals and blogging.  

I will also be starting a nutrition unit, which is something that I am extremely passionate about and have taught before in a Montessori setting.  To tweak the lessons and ideas that I already have so that they may be manageable and effective in the classroom that I am in, I have used resources such as Pinterest and Share My Lesson.  Share My Lesson is a website that I was introduced to during a staff meeting (I love that the principal of the school that I am in constantly encourages teachers to explore and use technology and internet resources).  The site reminds me of Teachers Pay Teachers except all of its resources are free.  The site is fairly easy to navigate and contains lessons, reproducibles, videos and power point presentations.

Lots of things to look forward to!  Hope everyone had, or will have, a fabulous Spring Break

Professional Learning Network

“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.” 

– David Warlick

I am now halfway through a Learning and Technology course (I can’t believe how time flies) and would like to take a moment to self-assess my progress in cultivating my Professional Learning Network a.k.a. PLN.  After reading through the PLN Guidelines, I find myself between two worlds in the areas of reading, tweeting and sharing.  I have been reading many articles and blogs and exploring different professional websites on a near daily basis to help me as I take on more responsibility in my current student teaching site and get into my Action Research project.  However, I have not been using an RSS aggregator.  I usually search particular sites (Pinterest, Twitter, Learnist, Teachers Pay Teachers, Google Scholar) to find relevant articles and information but I can see how having an RSS aggregator can make finding information more time efficient.

I have been trying to share my findings and thoughts regarding my AR inquiry project, the projects of my peers, or general educational tools that I found to be helpful by bookmarking them onto my Learnist and/or Pinterest account and tweeting them.  I have also found some great resources on Twitter, but I feel I am not being very efficient when searching for specific resources on this particular site.  Additionally, I know that I need to spend more time exploring the tweets of the people that I am following.  Professor Heil has said this many times, and I know it to be true -- to really get a sense of how to use Twitter, you actually have to commit to spending regular amounts of time Tweeting, reading Tweets and utilizing Tweet deck.  This is definitely something that I plan to do, and like some of my classmates have said, I plan to set aside time (at least 30 minutes) each day on Twitter.

In terms of Bookmarking, Writing and Commenting, I do feel like I am approaching the Matrix.  I feel a lot more comfortable blogging and it has helped me reflect upon all of the things I am learning at my student teaching site and in my course work.  I also enjoy reading the blogs of my classmates, the comments they write for each other and and their contributions to our EDUC 578 blog and Edmodo site.  

I would like to learn more about thinglink, Popplet and edcanvas and plan to explore each of these sites before the end of this semester.  I would love support in how to use these sites and how I could utilize them in the classroom.  

P.S. I just found this article on Twitter (yay, me!) that proved to be extremely helpful.

Great Tips on how we can cultivate our PLN

A Captivated Audience

"Writing is a key to a double gain. It enables the hand to master a vital skill like that of speaking and to create a second means of communication that reflects the spoken word in all its details. Writing is thus dependent upon mind and hand."  

-Maria Montessori

The 24 second grade students that I have been working with since the beginning of February are an energetic, talkative, enthusiastic and highly capable group. They love to tell me stories about their home lives, families, interests and desires. I love listening to their stories because they are always filled with great detail, excitement and joy.  These students display the same enthusiasm for reading, math, science and geography lessons, and will constantly share everything they know, or think they know, about the topic at hand during group discussions.

However, as soon as these same students are given a journal topic or reader response question to write about, the excitement seems to quickly disappear from their eyes and the first question they ask is always, “How long does it have to be?”  After several minutes of most of the students staring at a blank page, I’ll then hear, “I don’t know what to write.”  Ten more minutes might pass before students will turn in their papers with two to three simple sentences that may or may not relate to each other or the topic at hand.

My students’ quality of work and attitudes towards writing assignments prompted me to conduct a needs assessment through surveys, observations and analysis of student work.  The data I gathered gave me insight into my students’ feelings towards writing, their current levels of writing proficiency and their confidence levels regarding writing.  While my students are given focused lessons on writing conventions, spelling and vocabulary, I observed that very few of them apply these lessons to their writing pieces.  Furthermore, most of my students seem to have difficulty with writing coherently about a specific topic and aim for the minimum requirements when asked to complete a writing assignment.  Many of my students expressed a negative attitude towards writing, dislike the process of correcting, editing and revising, and do not view themselves as capable writers.  

After reading different studies, books and articles regarding students and writing, I have realized that there are a number of things that can have a negative affect on students’ attitudes towards writing - lack of time, lack of resources, high stakes testing, an excess of corrections, a heavy reliance on external motivators and a focus on convention rather than expression, just to name a few.  All of these factors were quite overwhelming and, disheartened, I thought, what could I do?  With the time that I have and the freedom that I am given, what could I possibly do?

The answer finally came to me as I was rereading parts of Lucy Calkins book, “The Art of Teaching Writing,” - I could listen.   

I believe that the whole purpose of writing is to communicate.  I have noticed that the majority of my students’ writing pieces are not regularly shared with teachers, peers, schoolmates, their families, their friends or the community.  So, who are they communicating with?   All of the literature that I have read regarding teaching writing emphasizes the importance of writing with a purpose and for an audience.  Lucy Calkins states, “As writers, 

what we all need more than anything else in the world is listeners, listeners who will respond with silent empathy, with sighs of recognition, with laughter and tears and questions and stories of their own.  Writers need to be heard.”

An audience is definitely something I can be and provide for my students.  I can listen and I believe that my students are important and interesting enough for other people to want to listen to them, too.  Perhaps writing for an audience will help my students understand and appreciate their power and voice as writers.  And perhaps writing for an audience will help them develop a renewed excitement and enthusiasm for writing.  

For my action research inquiry, which I will be conducting now until the end of the school year, I hope to discover:

“How does writing for an audience affect students’ achievement in and attitude toward writing?”

1.  How does writing for an audience affect students’ image of themselves as writers?

2.  How does writing for an audience affect students’ quality of work?

3.  How does an awareness of different audiences shift the structure of students’ writing?

Small Successes

"You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins."

 
-Jom Stovall 

This week was full of several small successes.  I had a great time subbing for my cooperating teacher while she was gone for the CUE convention in Palm Springs.  I acquired some great ideas from Pinterest and was able to use these ideas in the classroom for “Read Across America Week.”  I attended an IEP meeting and was able to confidently contribute meaningful observations and suggestions.  And I was able to introduce my cooperating teacher to Prezi which she utilized for a school wide community service learning project.

However, the success I was most excited about this week had to do with a science lesson I created and implemented in the classroom.  The lesson introduced different forces (push, pull and gravity) and Newton’s first law of motion to my second grade class.  I was not thrilled with the lesson provided by the students’ text book so I pulled some ideas from Montessori’s lower elementary science activities, a couple of resources that I found on Twitter and some shared presentations that I found on Promethean Planet.  My lesson included four hands on experiments for the students to conduct in teams of 3 or 4 and utilized basic materials such as pepper, liquid soap, magnets, water and paper.   The students were engaged, excited, and were able to explain (both verbally and in written form) the main concepts presented.  My supervising teacher, Dr. A, was there for an observation and she gave me some great feedback, both positive and constructive.

There are two reasons why this lesson stood out to me as a success:

One, I found the internet and the technological tools I am slowly learning to use to be extremely helpful instead of enormously overwhelming.  That’s a huge step for me!   I truly felt part of a community of educators wanting to help other educators, for no other reason but to make a positive difference.  I was inspired by the creativity and dedication that many teachers have toward their students and their willingness to share their creativity for the benefit of others, regardless if they are recognized for their ideas or not.  Just as Seth Godin said in Tribes, “There’s no record of Martin Luther King Jr. or Ghandi whining about credit.  Credit isn’t the point. Change is.”

Two, I found myself energized and appreciative of the positive feedback I received from Dr. A.  It reminded me of the importance and power of meaningful affirmations.  No matter how old or young you are, everybody appreciates encouragement, acknowledgement and specific compliments.  It reminded me to take time to observe my students, to recognize the hard work, the kindness, the creativity, etc. that they display, and to acknowledge them for it.

Technological Tantrum

"Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem.  That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily."

 ~Thomas Szasz

For the past several weeks, I have been trying out and using different internet tools in order to create and foster my own Professional Learning Network (PLN).  The experience has been ….. challenging.  

Let me explain:  
I recently had some out-of-town guests stay with my family and me.  In an effort to show them and their 5 year old son, “Mac”,  all of the wonderful things San Diego has to offer, we packed our weekend schedule with trips to Sea Port Village, Sea World, the Fashion Valley Mall, different restaurants, beautiful parks, etc., etc., etc.  There’s so much to do in San Diego!  On the first day, little Mac was so excited!  On the second day, he was exhausted.  By the third day, he was overwhelmed, irritated, throwing tantrums, and ready to go home.  

I feel like little Mac.  

I know there is a ton of wonderful things to be learned on the internet.  I know it.  But I feel so overwhelmed and inundated with information and words and graphics and hashtags and links and bookmarks that I feel like I am not processing anything!  It doesn’t help that I feel sooooooo far behind in terms of technological ‘know-how’ compared to my classmates or that I feel sooooo vulnerable when publishing my thoughts and words in a public sea of... well I don’t really know what.  Who will care what I write?  Who will care what I think?  Who will care about the things I think are cool or interesting or funny?  Who knew I cared so much about what other people think of me?

In short, I feel like I’m having my own little tantrum.  Okay, okay, maybe a big tantrum.

I did talk to Mac a few days after he left San Diego and was able to recoup.  He didn’t remember his tantrums, but he did remember seeing Baby Shamu, playing basketball at the park with my kids, and eating at a restaurant where he ordered his food on an iPad.  I was glad that, after some time to reflect, he was able to point out some highlights from his San Diego trip.

I, too, have found and learned how to use some technology tools that don’t utterly confuse me and that have actually helped me find some great ideas, articles, and organizational strategies to use in the classroom.  For those of you who don’t know me, the extent of my ‘internet presence’ prior to February 2013 was, well..... using Google, Youtube, emailing friends and occasionally looking through my husband’s Facebook (no, I do not have my own account).  NOW --- I’ve been spending a lot of time looking through Learnist and Pinterest and creating some boards on both sites.  I’ve been following a number of people on twitter and have successfully tweeted some links that I think would be helpful to my classmates and fellow educators.  I’ve learned to use two different blogging sites and Activinspire.  And I plan to figure out what diigo and scoopit are all about....

This experience has taught me many, many things.  One of the most important things it has taught me is this:  When I come across a student who needs a bit more time than his classmates to 'get it', I will remember how I am feeling right now and give him or her some extra love :).

I’m pretty proud of my progress.... But I know that I still have a loooooong way to go.  

A collection of quotes from "Tribes"

Resident or Visitor?

In this video, "Visitors and Residents," (http://tallblog.conted.ox.ac.uk/index.php/2009/10/14/visitors-residents-the-video/)  Dr. David White explains his theories regarding how people use the internet.  He proposes that a continuum exists where "Residents' are on one end of the spectrum and 'Visitors' on the other.  Dr. White describes 'Residents' as internet users who live a large portion of their lives online.  Residents maintain an online persona and faciliate relationships via the web.  Visitors, on the other hand, use the internet as a tool and only when the need arises.

I see myself far on the side of “visitor” on this continuum.  I view technology as a box of tools, and at the moment, my tools are extremely disorganized.  I will attempt to utilize or learn how to use a certain tool ONLY if I know it  will serve a purpose or help me achieve a specific goal.  As soon as my goal is met or need is served, back in the box the tool goes.  Unfortunately, adopting this attitude was a reactive decision I made that followed several awkward situations that occurred while I was teaching at my children’s school.  My internet persona made it extremely easy for my students and students’ parents to find and contact me.  Before I knew it, the lines between my professional and personal lives ceased to exist.  I was “talking shop” at birthday parties, conferencing during play dates, and advising during ‘family’ weekends.  I wasn’t present when I was with my friends and family in person because I was dealing with or worrying about the issues I felt I needed to address online.  I made a decision to leave school at school and concentrate on home at home (to a certain degree -- planning lessons, making materials, and looking for ideas are ongoing) and part of that decision meant I needed to reign in my internet persona.  For the time and place that I was in, this was a necessary thing for me to do and it increased the quality of my life and my effectiveness-- as a mother, a wife , a friend, and an educator --tenfold.

I understand that I am in a different time and place now, and that I need to reevaluate the role technology plays in my professional life.  (I am fairly confident that I will keep my personal life as a strict visitor online.)  I also regret that these experiences left me a bit frightened of technology and its power.   I would like my professional persona to be more visible on the internet, and while I feel uncomfortable and overwhelmed with the tools I am being introduced to, I do acknowledge the potential they have in helping me be the best educator that I can be.  Like Dr. White said, it’s not about merely using the tools, it’s about using the tools effectively.  

Passion

I have always been excited about math and science -- not only do these two subjects have a universal language, but for me, they help clarify the interrelatedness of all subjects and people, regardless of time and place.  These subjects help make sense of chaos, instill in me a feeling of gratitude for those that came before me  and identify the purpose of every living and nonliving thing here on earth.  These subjects make me feel like I am an important part of a whole, and that I, too, have a significant and unique purpose.  

I understand that not every learner will share the same passion for math and science that I do, because frankly, some learners view math and science as a whole bunch of confusing theorems and properties.  So, as an educator, I have found that I am passionate about bringing out the best in each of my students and helping them become positive, contributing members of society.  I am passionate about helping my students find purpose in the things that they do and the lives that they lead.  I get excited about having opportunities to help students hone in on their strengths and interests and helping them discover how they could use them to serve others - their classmates, their families, their communities, etc.  Helping students realize that they have a voice and the power to make a positive change, no matter how small, is exciting, is fun, and is the reason why I love being a teacher.  

For future research, I would love to find ways to motivate students and to gain insight as to the determining factors that separate indifferent students from enthusiastic students; apathetic students from curious students; dependent students from self-reliant students; selfish students from altruistic students.  Learning is one thing, but doing great things with what you learn is quite another.  How can I inspire and encourage my students to want to be part of a greater whole and to be excited about contributing in a positive and helpful way?

Communities of Practice

Communities of Practice are groups of people who share a passion for something that they do (their practice) and interact on a regular basis so that they could learn from each other how they could perform their practice better.  Learning takes place in context and in a low stress environment which maximizes the acquisition and generation of ideas.  This term was coined by social anthropologist and social learning theorist Dr. Jean Lave and education theororist and practitioner Etienne Wenger.  While the term is relatively new, the actual communities of practice are not.  Communities of practice were the first knowledge-based social structures and developed when people realized they could profit from sharing their knowledge, insights, ideas and experiences with others who possessed similar interests or goals. According to Lave and Wenger, a Community of Practice must have a community (a group of people) with a defined domain (what it is they care about or do) who work on developing their body of knowledge concerning their practice (their work).  I feel that this is an extremely effective and meaningful way to learn about one’s practice because surrounding yourself with people who share your passions, goals and desires to learn can be motivating and inspriring.  When ideas, challenges and ideas are shared, solutions can be found in an extremely efficient and meaningful way.  Additionally, improvements to ideas can be immediately communicated and suggestions can be tweaked to meet individual classrooms and needs.     

I believe that belonging to a Community of Practice cab be extremely valuable, especially for new and/or experienced teachers.  It is extremely easy for educators to feel isolated within their own classrooms and groups of students.  As a result, problems can appear to be magnified, the risk of burnout increases, and the effectiveness of one’s teaching decreases significantly.  Knowing that there are other professionals who share your concerns, failures and joys not only can improve one’s mental and emotional health, it can also shed light on solutions, resources and directions that have proven to be useful and successful.  This can save many educators a considerable amount of time because they will not have to “reinvent the wheel.”

The idea of learning through a community of practice applies to my Personal Learning Network (PLN) because they are, essentially, one in the same.  I will be tasked to choose a domain and become part of a community that will assist me in becoming the best educator and learner that I can be.  For this course, I believe our domain is learning how to utilize technology and social media to effectively find resources and ideas that will improve our abilities as teachers.  Our community consists of the students in this course, the instructors, and even previous students.  Our practice is educating students so that they reach their fullest potentials and develop into lifelong learners.  Outside of this classroom, I feel that I am part of a Community of Learners who are dedicated towards educating elementary school-aged children so that they can become successful and productive citizens in our society.  Technology makes it easier for communities to “meet” and connect on a regular, convenient basis.

A Whole New Mind - Part I

 1.  What is L-Directed and R-Directed Thinking?  Does my subject require more of one than the other?  How could I try and reach a balance?

L-Directed Thinking is “sequential, literal, functional, textual and analytic.”    R-Directed Thinking is “simultaneous, metaphorical, aesthetic, contextual, and synthetic.”  As an elementary school teacher, I will be responsible for teaching all subjects to my students.  Subjects that require more L-Directed Thinking are math; science; Reading in terms of the alphabetic principle, decoding and literal comprehension; and Grammar.  Subjects that require more R-Directed Thinking are Creative Writing; History; Social Studies; and Reading in terms of inferential and evaluative comprehension.  In subjects that are more L-Directed, I could try and reach a balance by encouraging inferences, emphasizing multiple ways to come to a solution and making predictions.  Math, proportion and symmetry can be found in nature, art and the faces that we see on a daily basis, so aesthetic qualities could also be explored and appreciated.   In subjects that are more R-Directed, I could try and reach a balance by finding patterns in great works of art and literature, modeling certain author’s writing style and identifying the cause and effect of events. 

  

2.  How do Abundance, Asia and Automation affect the dominance of L-Directed thinking in business and schools?

Abundance, Asia and Automation affect the dominance of L-Directed thinking in business and schools in that they diminish the value of L-Directed thinking.  Because of Abundance, Asia, and Automation, L-Directed thinking is no longer enough.  Our society is one of abundance.  We are inundated with choices for everything – what we eat, what we drink, what we wear, what we drive, what we listen to, what we watch, etc.  Products need to be functional and reasonably priced, but because of the abundance of choices available to us, they also need to be beautiful, pleasing to all of our senses, and meaningful in order for them to stand out.  “Asia” refers to the high numbers of knowledge  workers  that are being trained and hired at a significantly lower cost than their American counterparts.  Whereas these knowledge workers used to be trained and hired exclusively in the US, countries like India, Russia, and the Philippines are now producing large numbers of these knowledge workers who are willing to work for a fraction of the cost.  Automation refers to the growing trend of technology taking the place of human workers.  In most cases, machines, databases and software can do the job of their human counterparts quicker, better and cheaper. 

3.  What is High Concept and High Touch?  What is the impact of this on my teaching?

High Concept is the capacity to “detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new.”  In other words, High Concept includes the ability to create beautiful, meaningful and original ideas.

High Touch involves “the ability to empathize with others, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning.”  In other words, High Touch is the ability to positively interact with others, form and foster healthy relationships, find joy in purposeful activities and service, and encourage others to be their best selves. 

Both High Concept and High Touch are abilities that have been overlooked in the past, but are quickly gaining importance, relevance and value in our changing society.  This impacts my teaching because I will need to ensure that I provide my students with opportunities and experiences that foster development in creative thinking, problem solving, innovation, and meaningful and purposeful relationships.  I must also help my students discover strategies that they could use to continuously improve their emotional and mental health so that they could find joy within themselves and spread positivity.

4.  What are the flaws of an education system that only value IQ?  Is there also a role for EQ in education?

One flaw of an education system that only values IQ is that it does not prepare students for a happy, social and meaningful life.  Moreover, these education systems fail to encourage students to think creatively, to form personal relationships, to connect with others in different social settings, or to find purpose and meaning in their work and studies.  There is absolutely a role for EQ in education – through community outreach, service, and connections, students can learn the value of compassion, empathy and care while discovering the positive effects it has on their own lives.