Sir Ken: Killing Creativity in Schools

This is one of my favorite TED talks. Why? Because it was my first. And fittingly my last TED post.

I am going to comment on some favorite quotes:

He states that: 'Everyone has an interest in education...Education goes deep with people... teachers educate them [students] for the future that no one knows.'

True words my friend, true words. 

'Children have unpredictability.' And children have a great capacity for learning in that unpredictability.

This reminded me of Kindergarteners, specifically the Kindergarteners of Ms. Halshaw-Wade. She is a classmate of mine who is exploring Kindergartners as scientists in her action research. For her more thoughtful description of her action research, her main question, research design and all things Tori please visit her Action Research page on her other website. Anyway, today we were discussing the progress she has made in her research, some findings and next steps. Then she asked me...'well Leyva, seriously, what do you think of my research?' I replied 'it's awesome!' I explained that to me her research exposed the scientific process in several forms to her students who may not have had the explicit experience with the scientific process before. They are learning about how cool science and testing and predictions can be! And at such a young age!
Often students are not as engaged in science as they could be because their curiosity has been stifled along the way. Science to some students is just memorizing new facts and trying to pass tests. Labs are the part that are fun. Not always necessarily educational and true application of their knowledge or true inquiry learning. They should truly want to know what is next and find out what new knowledge they can acquire through learning.

'Creativity is important in education.'

'Kids will take a chance. If they don't know they will have a goal.'
Taking risks: This was a topic of discussion throughout the Project Based Learning training I mentioned in an earlier post. As a staff we want our students to graduate from high school with the ability and drive to take risks and not be afraid to fail. Through failure we learn so much more emotionally and intellectually.

Then he stated. 'If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.' 'The result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacities.'

What is the point of reinforcing facts if they see no purpose or new. How can that inspire them? 

'What is education for? What is the output?..To produce university professors'

This is a thought I have had more than once. In college I was always told to explore more and learn more in graduate school. Do research and go to grad school etc. I feel like the real life application of the material was present but only in application to research. Forever be a learner. A great thought but what about using my knowledge for something else. Teaching should be about exposing students to the real life application and helping them get there. The school I will be teaching at next year aims to have students graduate with lab tech certifications or one day EMT certifications (both through a local college) etc.

'Degrees aren't worth anything.' It is a process of 'academic inflation.'

Agreed. I know so many people in my generation are looking for jobs that don't exist for them or are unfitting (for a variety of reasons). If education was designed to meet the needs of industry how is this so? Shouldn't someone with a college degree be ready to get a job? I was talking with a man on a plane on my way home from Reno (volleyball tournament) and he told me about his engineering company and the people he hires. He said that work ethic and the intelligence (and ability) to adapt and learn new things was what he looked for. Degrees were required but more importantly the people he hires have to be able to think. He left telling me to be hard on my students they need it.

Education is 'Based on academic ability.' The view of intelligence is limited and biased towards university interests.

I was talking with my players this weekend about applying to colleges. Many of them are so worried that they won't get in with their SAT scores (the SAT was this past weekend) or GPA's. This is disappointing. I tell them that they will end up at the college that is right for them but they don't see it in sight yet. I know these girls. They are intelligent and have strong GPA's, SAT's and academic ability. But they also have a wide variety of interests. I truly do know they will be ok. But I am curious what university or college will deem them right for their school.

He ended with 'Use the gift of human imagination wisely. Promote the creative capacity for richness it is. See children for hope they are. Help them make something of the future.'
Inspiring.

Dan Meyer: Math Problems

He begins his talk with the statement: 'I market a product that my market doesnt want and is forced on them.' He is a high school math teacher. So am I.

His talk about revamping the way math is taught in the United States. He says that the way it is taught in the U.S. almost guarantees it wont be remembered. It is currently focused on computation skills. Skills that if forgotten are easy to relearn if one has the proper foundation and mathematical reasoning skills to relearn how to compute the problem. Teaching that mathematical reasoning is the difficulty. That is the part of teaching math that I am focusing my action research on. See www.lleyva.weebly.com 'Action Research' tab for more details and current updates. But as posted as an earlier blogpost (see Passion), I want to see how students think and their reasoning through writing and error recognition.

Second on the comment about math teaching in the U.S. (a partial tangent): I was speaking with another math teacher who is not from this country and she noted the differences in how math is taught in the U.S. and in other places as well. She said that in her country the students were drilled everyday to reinforce basic skills. I wondered, does this mean that the students then had a stronger foundation and thus were better able to reason through more difficult problems? My question did not get answered but she did mention that mathematics were also not taught in a disjointed sequence there either. Math concepts were taught more logically (when they arised to solve a problem) not by algebra, then geometry, then back to algebra, then precalculus.

Anyway he cited that there are 5 signs math is being taught incorrectly in schools: 1- lack of initiative, 2- lack of perseverance, 3- lack of retention, 4- aversion to word problems, 5- eagerness for formula.

My thoughts when I read this: boom! Common core! Boom! New textbook adoption! Boom! Integrated mathematics!

Anyway: next he likened this to a quote and thought by David Milch: 'impatience with irresolution'  This specifically relates to number 5. Milch said this was the downfall of sitcoms that people saw the beginning middle and end too easily. Shows are too easy on the brain and it shaped their neural pathways to expect this and see only this in their lives. Sometimes I feel like technology does this for our students..makes it too easy and expectant. But math can be presented in that way too and students become adapted to it and problems ensue when they are challenged even remotely. And as Meyer says 'the problems our students will solve for us are not so simple.'

Scary.

Meyer goes to talk about textbook and cookie cutter problems and how that can make our students impatient problem solvers. The problem is even designed to scaffold them significantly. Teachers should readapt these to make it more difficult and interesting and create student discussion and argument. My master teacher used a problem from the MAP website the other day and had the students discuss how they got their answers. Commonly referred to as a 'number talk.' It was interesting to watch her class literally argue then come to find they were actually agreeing.

This is what needs to happen more in math classes and other classes. Students need to become more active learners and take an interest in the content.

Lastly he describes a water filling problem...thinking about trying that on Thursday...I want to see if the students are up for the challenge.

Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

This video (or the true TED version) was listed on the eduinspiration playlist but I wanted to post the version I viewed a few weeks ago via the Buck Institute for Education (bie.org).

BIE: The Buck Institute for Education helps to promote project based learning and support teachers and staff in the development of project based learning in their classrooms and in their schools. You can visit their website at bie.org for some great materials, ideas and more about project based learning.

PBL Professional Development: So a couple of weeks ago three people from the Buck Institute of Education came to meet and direct a full session (3 days) of Project Based Learning understanding and development with the teaching staff of the school I will be working at next year. The training went into depth about what PBL is really about and what assessments and what is being measured are supposed to entail.

The video in this context: The video was shown at the training on day 2 (or 3) when we were discussing project based learning student products and assessments (formative, summative, group and individual). (A note on group assessments: they are not recommended). The video was enlightening to many of my colleagues including myself. The video essentially describes how businesses' incentives plans fail. People, when given incentives to perform tasks better and quicker generally do not do well (see the drawings of the people falling down at the highest pedestals--those who were given the most incentives fall the furthest). Unless the products we want them to produce are (in some sense 'meaningless') robotic people most likely will not thrive under money motivators etc. Those who are given little to no incentives perform at the same level as those who are given medium (slightly higher than the lowest and lower than the highest) incentives. It seems counter intuitive in many senses because people like money and want money and should want to work for it. But it truly stifles creativity.

It made me think of the students who get test anxiety. I have one student who participates in every class lecture. She typically describes her process very well and is often on the right track (but I have heard her explain some solutions that do indicate much  misconception). But she also completes most all of her homework but the second she is given a test she fails. This has been a consistent trend throughout the year. The grade and test for her is her money incentive that decreases her performance....or really the anxiety. And that is the root of the difficulty of incentives.

But this led the presentation to the discussion of differentiation of instruction in project based learning which was one of our concerns. For us we are only assessing students individually and our aim is reflection and revision. We want to emphasize the importance of  student work to both the teacher and the student and validate it with an authentic audience. Along with the personal interest in the project we aim to motivate students. Instead of the grade as the carrot the learning is the whole garden!

The Call to Learn

After watching "How it Feels to Have a Stroke" I looked at the youtube recommendations on the side of the screen and saw 'The Call to Learn' TED talk by Clifford Stoll. Obviously I had to click on the link and watch the video.

Clifford Stoll is an extremely intelligent and energetic man who bounced from topic to topic in this TED talk. But it was very insightful in a few ways...although seemingly tangential.

He begins by describing himself and the topics that he'd love to talk about but won't. Specifically he mentions that 'computers don't belong in schools'  he stated that 'there this idea to bring more computers into schools' but we should 'get and keep them out of schools.'

An interesting statement and topic of debate, if there ever was one. He even states that 'the argument is obvious to anyone who has hung out in a 4th grade classroom.' I went through the book Catching Up or Leading the Way by Yong Zhao and saw a similar quote from the same man, Clifford Stoll. He states "Here are my strong reservations about the wave of computer networks. They isolate us from one another and cheapen the meaning of actual experience. They work against literacy and creativity. They undercut our schools and libraries."

Now I agree with Mr. Stoll in the sense that the reliance on computers by students (and society on the whole) devalues the experience of creating new knowledge much of the time. There are several parts I think I need to address in this statement. First, creating new knowledge: this can be done in a variety of ways and searching on the internet for information and producing a product can be one of them. But I feel like many students just research to find the information and use it rather than really process it. This can 'work against literacy and creativity.' If students are not asked to make their own products with the information and communicate what they know they are not being active learners. They may be diminishing their critical thinking and reasoning skills. Second, as a science teacher many students need hands on experience to truly understand concepts. Thus computers can 'cheapen the actual experience' for some students.  

I also agree with him in the sense that computers can isolate students. Social and emotional development are essential in education. As Stoll also states in the talk, kids today are always on the screen, they don't even go bowling together. School is where many students can develop their social skills and learn to work with one another. Collaborative learning and working is an important part of life. As teachers it is our goal to help our students develop into full citizens ready to make a positive impact on the world.

Zhao also states that two of challenges of technology in education include building our students citizenship [in many senses] and building the skills of our students to live in this world. Technology has so much potential to help students create more and become more active participants in their world and their learning. But as teachers, we have to structure their use to help them build the skills they have and develop the ones they need not just use it.

Back to 'The Call to Learn"....

Stoll also says 'if you really want to know about the future don't ask a scientist [...] ask a kindergarten teacher they know [...] ask an experienced one what society going to be like.'

Good point. They have seen the development of students over the years. I wonder what they see for the future now?

(....that I have no real comment on....maybe an interview in the future)

Lastly he speaks about working on the frontlines as a teacher. He teaches 8th grade 4 days a week and teaches them genuine physics. For instance, as he demonstrates, he measured the speed of sound with them. 'What 8th grader do you know that has done that?' Genuine learning and experience can truly engage students and inspire them to be experts in the field they choose.

Awesome!!

A Stroke of Insight

By a wonderful recommendation I was led to watch 'How it Feels to have a Stroke' by Jill Bolte Taylor on TED Talks. The video was an engaging description and reflection of a researcher's experience having a stroke. When I first knew of the video I thought it would be an interesting scientific approach to how it feels to have a stroke. Although she did describe her symptoms and affect during the experience her words were much more philosophical. It proved to be a very inspirational piece.

I shall choose a few inspirational and important quotes to help explain my experience and the connections I made while listening:

The scientific stuff about the brain: she emphasized the separation of the left and right hemispheres and their functions. She elaborated on the functions of the right and left hemispheres and their ways of processing.

She also stated that 'they think and care about different things [...] they are like two different personalities.' Now reading this statement might automatically make your brain make a connection to psychological disorders. This was her interest in studying the brain in the first place. To me, this statement made me think of the personalities of each individual person, specifically the students we work with. Each student thinks more with one side of the brain than the other and this accounts for their personality (so do genetics and nurture, etc.). It also made me think of the students who struggle with emotional disturbance and personality disorders where it may be that their brain process and interpret information so differently from a 'normal' brain and they may have no control.

When speaking about the functions of the right [hemisphere of the] brain she spoke that the right is all about 'the present moment,' 'the connections of energies,' and how it 'learns and processes kinesthetically.' To me this combined personality, learning styles and Gardners' Multiple Intelligences all in one. Although all true, the corpus callosum and other factors play a part in these aspects of a person.

Her ending quote to describe the function of the right hemisphere was this: 'In this moment we are perfect, we are whole and we are beautiful.'

Powerful. But not really my choice on how to describe the right hemisphere function. But what about to a student who learns differently from my factual approach to science? What a powerful way to introduce the differences between the right and left hemispheres, their functions and their connections. How many of your students might identify with this statement to their personal world view?

In describing the left hemisphere she used the words 'I am...I am...' and she continued to say that  they left hemisphere thinks almost like 'I become separate from the energy flow around me and from you.'

Interesting. She noted that the left hemisphere focuses on the past and the future leaving the right brain to work on the present. Thus creating a separation...? I was not so sure about this description. But this made me think of the students that have difficulties relating socially or those who are planners or those who only focus on the past and have difficulty seeing the problems they can solve now and get to in the future.

In describing her experience she was grateful for it. She felt she had found true nirvana in the connection of her energy to the energy around her. She had lost (at the time) much of her left brain mentality and became more in tune with her right hemisphere. Her corpus callosum was blocked and she was unable to process information, make connections and create speech. In her connection to the energies around her she stated that everyone can find nirvana and connect to the Earth and one another. In this I saw the support for the importance of empathy and the ability to connect to one another. As mentioned in an earlier post, I do believe this needs to be promoted and taught in schools. Student self, community and global awareness is important to develop in order to help change our world for the better.

Connecting the two cognitive minds (right and left hemispheres) and supporting the development of both can help a student become more whole and more cogniscient of the impact they can have on their world.

As Jill stated in this we can find peace. 'These are the we inside of me. The more peace found in me, the more peace in the world.'