Daniel Pink's Question

If you had to create a new school -- or reform your current school -- so that it better develops the six senses, what one or two things would you do?

1. To reform my current school I would first begin with incorporating story into subjects like math and science. People learn better when they can connect the thing they are learning to something in their lives. I feel that when students are in their math classes they are learning things that have no "why" to them. I think that in order for students to learn, then they need to know the "why", and if they don’t then they won’t really have the same motivation. The why is both part of story and empathy, and incorporates both of those into the reasoning.

2. I would also change the design of the room to make it more comfortable for the students. I would do this with the use of color, furniture design, and technology. Design cane influence the ways in which kids learn, and a comfortable environment provokes creativity.

Play: Go Back to School

The tire swing. It was my favorite playground piece throughout not only day care, but elementary school as well. My friends and i would spend all recess, and long days in the summer on the tire swing at my elementary school. We would make up games, songs, and even skits on the tire swing, and often even had elaborate adventures. It is amazing how big children's imagination is. They have the wondrous ability to change anything and everything into an adventure. Something as simple as a tire swing, slide, or monkey bars, can open up a whole new world to their eyes. After reading the Play chapter in AWNM, i decided to do the portfolio activity of "going back to school". Pink asks the reader to go to a playground for a little while, and just simply watch the children as they play. I went to Stern Park, a park near to my house, to complete this activity. I, of course, chose a seat facing the tire swing. As i watched what i assumed to be a group of three siblings play on that tire swing, i regressed mentally to the time where i was playing on that tire swing. It seemed so simple then to come up with all of these games and ideas, in such a short period of time. If someone were to ask me today to think up a completely original game that included only my sister, and a tire swing, it would be a challenge for me to do so. If play is in fact essential to excelling in the conceptual age, then we all must get in touch with our inner child. We all have to remember back to those "tire swing moments" and pull the creativity and imagination back to the surface.

Learning is Changing: World Languages

In high schools, and even middle schools, there are 2 languages offered to students, French and Spanish. Is that because those are the most useful languages in today’s society? If so why have the most important languages not changed in the last 30 years? I have no doubt that Spanish is the most important language in the united states at this time because of the amount of immigrants we receive from Mexico. Some people feel that instead of America learning Spanish to assist the immigrants, they should instead learn English to function in today’s society. What they don’t realize is that we have way more resources than immigrants, and have more opportunities to use these languages. There are also many jobs in which Spanish can be very helpful. One of my main career choices is police work, or more specifically ATF. Jobs like these often bring you to the less reputable part of town, where it is important to be able to communicate with people of all races. Considering the fact that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States, it can be very useful in many situations.

Learning is Changing: Arts

For me I can see the biggest change in my learning through the arts. Before this summer I wasn’t really interested in band or the arts for that matter. Although vie been in band for 4 years now (since 6th grade), vie never really done it to the intensity of this year. This past summer I decided to join the high school marching band, and I think it really has changed my life forever. At first I was very intimidated by the intensity and talent of the people around me, but it was an admiring type of fear. In middle school I had been first chair since 7th grade, and basically the best in the school. When I entered Arapahoe’s band program I realized how talented, dedicated, and amazing true musicians are, and that I really wanted to be one of them. I very quickly became a band geek, and by august I was "one of them". All of my friends were in band, and I spent more time with them than my family. They have really taught me dedication not only to the actual practice itself, but also every aspect of the program. When you really want to be a part of something, you can’t just be there for the practices, and concerts, you also have to be there for volunteer opportunities, as an audience, and most importantly to support the other people. Relationships are a huge part of education, whether it’s with your peers, your elders, or your enemies. People need other people to learn, we can’t simply teach ourselves and expect to be successful.

Sir Ken Robinson video reflections

After watching the video, TED Talks, i would jhave to agree with ted on his points. He opens the speach with the question "Do schools kill creativity?". I think that schools do in fact kill creativity. They are very centered on one subject, and they dont let people create their outlet. He also talks about how educators are educating children for a completely uncertain future. The video can be viewed at the following link.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66

Meaning:Test Your Spirit

When I began Dr. Jared Kass's online 10 minute test I was scared by the first 8 questions. These 8 questions very quickly reminded me of my church's conformation class I had taken 1 year ago. The idea of conformation classes is to re-introduce teens to God, and give them opportunity to become a member of the church. I have been very involved in my church since I can remember. My parents were married there, I was baptized there, I went to every church camp and Sunday school class, I was part of the children’s choir, and was even castled in a main role in the children’s Christmas play one year. To everyone it seemed natural for me to be a member of the church, I basically already was. My conformation was fairly small, about 10 kids, most of which were new to the church. They all looked to me as the leader who knew all the “correct” answers. I remember thinking and asking myself, are these the “right answers?” I think that everyone has a point in their life where they loose touch with what they really believe.
When taking the test this is what my results were...

GREEN: You have a healthy sense of well-being, but spirituality may not be a strong contributor. Perhaps you have not experienced your spiritual core or you are not giving yourself permission to recognize these experiences. Consider nourishing their development through meditation and inner dialogue. Keep a journal of your inner discoveries.

This test reflects that I am indeed in this part of my life at the moment. I am looking for the meaning in my religious practices. Not so much the what? but the why?, everything has a why we just have to find it.

Learning is Changing: English

To me English is the class of all classes, without English you can’t really function in any other classes. English is incorporated in all classes ranging from science to history. Yesterday I took a science test on astronomy and one of the parts to this test was an essay question. I found the test decently difficult and was relieved when I go to the essay question. I have developed the ability to make myself sound more intelligent in an essay when I really have no idea what it is really talking about. I have had teachers tell me repeatedly that the essay question is what saved my grade. I started thinking about why and how this works. I think that often people overlook the actual content when the writing sounds good, and is fluent. This is partly the idea of symphony, that it is important to have all parts to a piece of writing. I f someone just lists off facts, that is much less interesting to read than a well written paragraph. You need to have the whole package to be really successful.