tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48348926158499945292024-03-06T01:12:40.038-05:00100 Great BooksThis blog is a place for me to chronicle my adventures in reading the Great Books, and share some of what I discover along this journey.Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-89568813618178031882014-11-16T08:51:00.001-05:002014-11-16T08:51:39.585-05:00The Role of Teacher<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">With the growing integration of technology in education and life and the emphasis on personalized and competency-based approaches in the classroom, the role of the teacher is changing dramatically. It is no longer enough for us to present information to students and then test them on it with some worksheets or questions from a textbook in between to let students “practice”. Teachers who are actively engaging the changes in the world and classroom in an effort to do what’s best for student learning are discovering that as we do what’s best for students, the traditional role of “teacher” is fading. A reflective lot by nature, educators are struggling to find new ways to describe what we do. Common terms I’ve heard recently are: guide, mentor, and facilitator.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been teaching math in a blended learning environment for three semesters, and when asked how my perception of my own role has changed, I called myself a “tool maker”. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Perhaps in the evolution of education, we are seeing the emergence of a new “species” of educator: “magister faber” (the teacher who creates/makes).</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This kind of educator engages in a process of designing and engineering learning experiences that engage students in a process of experimentation, discovery, and knowledge building through activity. Allow me to present a sketch of magister faber:</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Considered “out there” or “pushing the boundaries” by his colleagues and administrators, Mr. Smith saw that his methods of presenting information, assigning homework, and quizzing and testing students on material was not producing high levels of learning for all students. Perhaps his students had changed, perhaps the world had changed, perhaps the state tests had changed; but regardless of the cause, there were students who just didn’t “get it”, and Mr. Smith knew that presenting more of the same wasn’t going to help them. At the same time, Mr. Smith recognized that the world had become information rich, and that students had a plethora of information at their hands. What students needed to learn was how to tell the important information from the unimportant (spot the signal amidst the noise), and then how to assess and think critically about information.</span></span></i></blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Taking a step back, Mr. Smith went to his state standards and developed specific measurable student performance tasks with rubrics that lined up with the standards. Then he grouped these tasks into clusters and looked for applications of these tasks in the world. Mr. Smith began presenting his students with challenges and tasks, and then worked with them and encouraged them to work with each other to solve these challenges and perform tasks that demonstrated their mastery or proficiency in various domains. When students fell short of proficiency in a domain, they were given other opportunities to grow and develop the necessary skills until they got it. Students progressed at different rates, and Mr. Smith had a difficult time fixing a “grade” on his students’ work at a specific time, but his students were actively engaged in the learning experiences he had designed, and often commented that it didn’t feel like “school work”.</span></span></i></blockquote>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Some of the ideas in this sketch involve parts of competency-based learning, project or problem-based learning, personalization, and blended learning (allowing student control over the rate at which they learn, the method of learning, the method of assessment, sometimes even the content), but ultimately, this sketch is about an educator who becomes a learning engineer for his students. If Mr. Smith’s method is so good for students, why isn’t everyone doing it? There are many reasons, but here are a few points:</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. It’s hard to fit new learning experiences into traditional grading and grade-reporting practices. As I have implemented various forms of competency-based education in my classroom, I have always run up against the wall of having to assign a numerical grade to each student at the end of each quarter. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Educational systems need to be open to new ways of reporting and recording student learning</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: portfolios with artifacts, videos of students doing things, projects with a product that serves as a demonstration of learning.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. In my sketch, I glossed over the part of the story where Mr. Smith spent his entire summer reading, researching, and designing those awesome learning experiences that engaged his students. I also didn’t mention that he did it all without getting paid more than his colleagues who didn’t spend their summer doing that. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Time and money are serious limiting factors for educators.</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> If we truly value student learning and we want teachers to invest their time in designing learning experiences for students, we need to give them the time to do it, and compensate them for their work.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. I didn’t mention in my sketch what happened when Mr. Smith’s students took the state mandated standardized test at the end of the year. The early evidence from teachers who are adopting these new learning practices seems to indicate that students who learn in this environment actually do better on standardized tests than they would have if they had been taught in a more traditional learning environment. But whether or not this is true, I wonder: how good are state standardized tests at measuring personalized student learning? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>In some states, teacher compensation is being tied to student scores on state standardized tests, and so it is understandable that teachers would be reluctant to change everything they do when it could impact their salary and job security.</b></span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Lack of knowledge and training also holds back well-intentioned teachers. Most teachers didn’t learn about cognition, neuro-science, brain-based research, design principles, etc. in their teachers training programs. The skill set required to be a learning-centered teacher is a shift from what was required of traditional teachers. I think colleges are still adjusting to this, and even if every college started turning out new teachers who were trained in these skills tomorrow, the majority of the teachers in the country are not new-hires. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Teachers need support and training in how to design engaging student learning experiences.</b></span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. The last reason I want to mention here is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>fear</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Some teachers are afraid of taking risks, of doing something different, of letting different students produce different end products, of how parents, students, colleagues, and administrators will react to what they’re doing.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I’ve put forward here is nothing more than a discussion of a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>shift from teacher teaching to student learning</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. For the past one hundred years or so, in the United States, we have had an educational system that put a teaching teacher (i.e. a lecturing teacher) at the center. We fixed curricula (what will be learned and in what order) for our core subjects. We created tests to “measure” students based on these fixed curricula (although I’m not sure exactly what those tests really measure). </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we’re going to shift to an educational system focused on student learning, then we will need to give students choices around what they learn, how they learn it, when they learn it, and how and when they demonstrate their mastery of the material. We will also need to support and train teachers through this transition and beyond. <b>A teacher with a growth-mindset who models continual learning for students is an essential piece of a true student-learning centered educational system.</b> And while all of these changes may be scary (to all stakeholders), the alternative of continuing to do what we’ve always done and allow some students to simply not “get it” is even scarier.</span></span></div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-20773746939924664662014-03-15T19:35:00.006-04:002014-03-15T19:35:55.394-04:00PD: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Over the past five years I have attended hundreds of hours of professional development (PD for short) as a teacher. This includes everything from monthly staff meetings and department meetings to hour-long weekly PD sessions on a variety of topics to “beginning of year PD days” to day-long sessions, and week-long conferences. I even participated in an on-going nine month PD that met for a half-day once each month. And my title for this post sums up my experiences pretty well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you’re not an educator, there is an expectation in the United States for educators that we continually grow and develop as professionals by expanding our own learning in our content area as well as in the field of education. Most schools start the year with a few “PD Days” that don’t typically involve much development. They usually cover mundane maintenance information. They’re dull days spent sitting listening to other people talk at you about retirement benefits, insurance, emergency procedures, etc. Don’t get me wrong: emergency procedures are important. In fact, they’re so important, it’s probably not a good idea to sandwich them between mind-numbing sessions on insurance and SMSs and LMSs, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For the record, I’m a huge fan of professional development and the concept and inspiration behind professional development, <b>when it’s done well</b>. That last clause is really key, because too often it’s not done well. And too often things are labeled as “professional development” that aren’t really professional development at all. But enough lead-in. I recently had a very good professional development, and I was reflecting on how much bad PD I’ve sat through, and what the difference is, and I thought perhaps I’d lay out some personal observations on what makes professional development good. So here we go…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1) <b>It’s led by teachers.</b> The best professional development experiences I’ve had have been organized and led by teachers. This is a challenge because teachers are already over-worked and under-paid; so putting on a quality professional development experience for colleagues takes time that teachers often don’t have. Administrators need to identify teacher leaders and find ways to free up their time so they can develop and execute quality PD for their colleagues. Teachers who are “in the trenches” speak to the experience of other educators in a way that “experts” and administrators cannot.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">2) <b>It’s practical.</b> When teachers sign up for (or are forced to attend) professional development, they want to walk away from the hour/day/week with something tangible that they can implement in their classrooms to improve student learning. I’m not really interested in sitting through a day-long conference about why I should integrate social justice topics into my classroom. I would much prefer to spend a day walking through actual social justice themed lessons that I can use in my own classroom. I was at a conference in Grand Rapids a couple summers ago, and the presenters treated us like a class and actually did a lesson with us, and then gave us the lesson plan.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">3) <b>It’s interactive.</b> I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat through PD about interactive learning or projected based learning that was delivered as a lecture. Talk about a total disconnect! Setup your PD to reflect what you’re trying to share. If it’s a PD on flipping the classroom, e-mail participants a link to a video you want them to watch the night before. I went to a day-long PD on using the socratic method in classrooms, and the presenter broke us up into groups and ran the whole day like he would run a classroom, constantly modeling the socratic method and how it can be used with students.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">4) <b>There are materials</b> (handouts, etc.) available after the presentation, and the presentation itself is recorded and shared (or at least the powerpoint is uploaded). This is especially true at conferences. When I attend 5-6 1-1.5 hour sessions every day for a couple days in a row, it gets to be a bit of an overload, and at the end of the day, it helps to have a website where I can download materials or the presentation itself and re-watch it (even a week or a month later, when I’m thinking “What did that lady say?”).</span></div>
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-82612049389144886732014-02-01T07:58:00.000-05:002014-02-01T07:58:22.182-05:00The Five Elements of Effective Thinking (Engaging Change)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're looking at Burger and Starbird's <u>The Five Elements of Effective Thinking</u>, chapter 5: Engaging Change.<br />
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Summary: "Change is the universal constant that allows you to get the most out of living and learning." (p. 8) Change is the one thing we can always count on in this world, and we must all learn to adapt to new things. We can choose to be part of the change or not. We can embrace it or reject it. But it will happen regardless of our choices. Learning to adapt is one of the most useful skills in life.<br />
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Critical Quotes:<br />
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"The fifth element is a meta-lesson. It recommends that you adopt the habit of constructive change. Don't be afraid to change any part of yourself--you'll still be there, only better." (p. 121)<br />
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"In a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks. - Warren Buffett" (p. 125)<br />
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"To become more skillful an successful, you might think in terms of altering what you do, rather than thinking in terms of how well you do it. Instead of thinking, 'Do it better,' think, 'Do it differently.'" (p. 125)<br />
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"We could claim that every person is equally capable of everything, and while that assertion might sell books, it is not reality. However, the reality is that you personally can learn far more and be far more creative and successful than you are today." (p. 127)<br />
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"For effective thinking, differences in native ability are dwarfed by habits and methods." (p. 128)<br />
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Ben's Thoughts:<br />
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I think this is very key. This was one of Father Chaminade's lessons, and it's one of the Characteristics of a Marianist Education; I was educated by the Marianist brothers, and teach at a Marianist school. When I talk about this kind of growth and change, I often use the word "better", and many people mis-interpret that as "better than other people", and I have to clarify that I mean "better tomorrow than you are today". This isn't about comparing ourselves to others, but rather to ourselves, and setting our own personal goals and advancing toward them.<br />
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Change is going to happen, regardless of how we feel about it. Like a surfer, we have to learn to ride the crest of the wave, staying on top of the ever advancing curve without crashing. No one gets it right all the time. But the successful surfers get back on their boards and catch another wave.</div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-45053951717105986572014-01-31T07:42:00.000-05:002014-01-31T07:42:29.502-05:00The Five Elements of Effective Thinking (Seeing the Flow of Ideas)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're looking at Burger and Starbird's <u>The Five Elements of Effective Thinking</u>, chapter 4: Seeing the Flow of Ideas.<br />
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Summary: Ideas have history and lives of their own. Knowing where ideas came from can help us understand where they're going. Looking back and seeing the past can help us understand where to go in the future. All ideas are interconnected, and understanding those connections help us think more deeply about them. Understanding the interconnectedness of ideas also helps us integrate new learning into our current understanding of the world.<br />
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Critical Quotes:<br />
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"Innovators...recognize that each new idea extends a line that started in the past and travels through the present into the future. Successful and effective learners and innovators harness the power of the flow of ideas." (p. 95)<br />
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"...every advance can be the launchpad to far greater advances yet to be discovered." (p. 95)<br />
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"Every great idea is a human idea that evolved from hundreds if not thousands of individuals struggling to make sense of and understand the issue at hand. Thoughtful individuals moved the boundaries of our knowledge forward little by little;" (p. 96)<br />
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"They [teachers] know the meaning of the basic ideas, and they know how one idea leads to another. Students who duplicate that perspective grasp the ideas of any subject better than those students who view each new week as an entirely new intellectual mountain to climb." (p. 100)<br />
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"Effective students and creative innovators regularly strive to uncover the unintended consequences of a lesson learned or a new idea." (p. 106)<br />
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"We limit ourselves when we think that success is an end." (p. 109)<br />
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Ben's Thoughts:<br />
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I absolutely agree with the fundamental concept here, and I think the insight about how teachers view course material vs. how students view course material in the quote above is valuable to students who can leverage it. Teachers see the big picture and build the complexities out of a solid understanding of the fundamentals; we also see the connections between all the sub-sections, and how they work together to make a whole. This is often the thing that students fail to see, perhaps because they haven't fully grasped each piece, and so it is hard for them to put the pieces together in a whole. Good education gives students perspective, teaches them to see the "big picture", and helps them integrate everything.<br />
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There is one part of this chapter to which I take some exception. Personally, I'm a bit of a neo-Platonist, and I don't think of ideas as "human" (the way the authors describe them). I think of ideas as ethereal entities on their own out there in idea-land. When an idea passes through our mind, it represents an intersection between our physical reality and the ethereal idea-land where that idea resides. Some would argue that an idea that has never occurred to a human hasn't ever existed, but I prefer to think of it as out there in idea-land, just waiting to be discovered.</div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-9638217192814099252014-01-30T17:33:00.000-05:002014-01-30T17:33:00.909-05:00The Five Elements of Effective Thinking (Raise Questions)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're looking at Burger and Starbird's <u>The Five Elements of Effective Thinking</u>, chapter 3: Be Your Own Socrates.<br />
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Summary: Questions are one of the most powerful tools we have in critical thinking. Questions open us up to possibilities; they expand our horizons; they lead us down new paths. We need to learn how to form quality questions, and to tell more fruitful questions from less fruitful ones. Questions are how we explore ideas. We need to learn to formulate our own questions.<br />
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Critical Quotes:<br />
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"Constantly formulating and raising questions is a mind-opening habit that forces you to have a deeper engagement with the world and a different inner experience." (p. 74)<br />
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"Alternative perspectives lead to new sights and new insights." (p. 78)<br />
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"If you can't create the questions, you're not ready for the test." (p. 79)<br />
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"It's what goes on inside <i>your</i> head that makes all the difference in how well you will convert what you hear into something you learn." (p. 84)<br />
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"The real goal is for students to develop skills and attitudes that will allow them to independently think through the complications of life and find ways to learn for themselves." (p. 93)<br />
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"Ideally, the goal of education should be to develop critical thinking and communication skills and other such mind-strenthening abilities." (p. 93)<br />
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"The right questions can be incredibly powerful tools for understanding and learning. Great questions can lead to insights that will make a difference.... Questions give us a breath of inspiration and insight;" (p. 93)<br />
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Ben's Thoughts<br />
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A few years ago I went to a professional development day that was all about using the Socratic (questioning) method in the classroom. I didn't completely convert my classroom to this method, but it occurred to me that an authentic learning environment should be more about good questions than a stream of information. Before that day, a lot of my classes had revolved around me disseminating information, and then me generating questions, and my students trying to remember the information and apply it to my questions. This is a pretty standard methodology that is widely applied throughout the American educational system. But, as I reflected upon it, it seemed backwards. Really, the questions should come from a developing dialogue in the classroom; students should have as much input into the questions as I do, and we should be partners in seeking answers to questions, rather than me just spewing information at them.<br />
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Of course, part of any classroom needs to be instruction. There is always a time and place to demonstrate a technique or to convey a piece of critical information. But, from that point forward, I tried to become much more aware of my questions in the classroom, and to think about the kind of questions I was asking, and to try to use questions in my classroom as a tool to help lead students and to help them build their own understanding of a topic. When I taught Latin, my example was that I would teach students the critical translation questions to ask (Part of speech? Case? Number? Gender? Tense? Voice? Mood? etc.) so that they could learn to ask themselves those questions. Eventually, we got to a point where many students could parse the Latin on their own and craft a respectable translation.<br />
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Even now, as a math teacher, many students want me to solve their problem for them, and there's certainly a time to give students examples of how to work certain kinds of problems, but just as often, I step back and say, "What do you think? How would you solve this problem? What are your options?" This is much more difficult than just showing the student a solution, but it builds their ability to work at problems, which is more important than solving any particular problem.</div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-60796686269629803682014-01-29T16:38:00.000-05:002014-01-29T16:38:53.104-05:00The Five Elements of Effective Thinking (Fail to Succeed)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're looking at Burger and Starbird's The Five Elements of Effective Thinking, chapter 2: Fail to Succeed.<br />
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Summary: Mistakes are the pathway to success. Mistakes help us refine our understanding. They help us imagine new possibilities. They help us understand "why". Freeing ourselves to make mistakes also frees us from the fear and constraint of "being wrong", which often stops people from taking critical steps in developing their thinking.<br />
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Critical Quotes:<br />
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"If you're stuck, a mistake can be just the thing to unstick you." (p. 48)<br />
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"Mistakes, loss, and failure are all flashing lights clearly pointing the way to deeper understanding and creative solutions." (p. 49)<br />
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"Success is about persisting through the process of repeatedly failing and learning from failure." (p. 57)<br />
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"Failure is a sign of a creative mind, of original thought and strength." (p. 71)<br />
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Ben's Thoughts:<br />
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Implicit in this element is risk taking, which seems to be a problem for a lot of people. Personally, I have a high risk-tolerance, and, in fact, do not often perceive as "risks" things other people think of as "risks". But I encounter my students (and even adults) who have a visceral fear of anything they perceive as a "risk". Students won't answer a question in front of their peers for fear of "looking stupid". This is one of the hardest preconceived notions to break, because for every time I tell students that it's okay to be wrong, and that being wrong is the first step on the road to understanding, popular culture tells them that being wrong is bad and that it makes them stupid.<br />
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This element ties in very nicely with Dweck's research on growth vs. fixed mindsets. Growth mindset individuals see failure as an opportunity to try again. They see potential for growth and learning, and so aren't afraid to fail, because they don't see failure as the end, but rather as the path. Fixed mindset individuals are afraid to fail, because they believe that their abilities and intelligence is fixed, and so if they fail once, then they believe they'll fail every time.<br />
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Somehow, we have to break this fear of failure. We're all going to get it wrong sometimes; that's part of life. If we use that failure to grow and learn, then we're the better for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.</div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-88285536379352739692014-01-28T07:59:00.001-05:002014-01-28T07:59:57.179-05:00The Five Elements of Effective Thinking (Understand Deeply)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're looking at Burger and Starbird's text <u>The Five Elements of Effective Thinking</u>, chapter 1: Understand Deeply.<br />
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Summary: Advanced ideas are often built on a foundation of other ideas. It's important to understand the fundamentals clearly and deeply. One of the key skills here is stripping away the fluff to get to the core of the idea you're investigating. Don't be satisfied with your current depth of understanding, because you can always go deeper, you can always understand more clearly. Push yourself to increasing your understanding.<br />
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Critical Quotes:<br />
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"It is at the interface between what you actually know and what you don't yet know that true learning and growth occur." (p. 35)<br />
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"Commonly held opinions are frequently just plain false. Often we are persuaded by authority and repetition rather than by evidence and reality." (p. 36)<br />
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"Becoming aware of the basis of your opinions or beliefs is an important step toward a better understanding of yourself and your world." (p. 38)<br />
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Ben's Thoughts:<br />
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Not following this principle is one of the most common errors I see in the classroom. I remember one of my Latin professors in college telling us a story about her high school Latin class studying/translating Caesar's campaign against the Gauls, and one of the questions on the final exam was "Who was Vercingetorix?" and none of the students knew that he was the leader of the Gauls whom Caesar captured and brought back to Rome, which marked the end of his campaign. The students had translated Caesar's journals all year, but they got so lost in the intricacies of translation that they lost sight of the bigger historical picture.<br />
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In my own classroom, I see it happen with concepts like differentiation. Students learn the limit definition of the derivative, and then they learn the Power Rule, the Chain Rule, the Quotient Rule, the Product Rule, etc. And I always start differentiation by showing the tangent line problem and visualizing taking a secant line with a diminishing delta "x" (as this sets up the limit definition nicely) until it becomes a tangent, etc. But still, when I ask: "What does it mean to take the derivative of a function?" I get blank stares, because my students failed to deeply understand the basic concept. I probably did the same as a student.<br />
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This, to me, is the real difficulty of being a teacher: <u><b>a good teacher is one who has thought extensively and deeply about the truths and mysteries of her/his subject</b></u>, and s/he is trying to introduce students to the fundamentals, but students just haven't put in the time to see the beauty of the underlying structure of the subject. And if they don't put in the time, they'll remain forever mired in the quicksand of shallow understanding.</div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-13181939133964075072014-01-27T10:27:00.001-05:002014-02-02T09:04:12.918-05:00The Five Elements of Effective Thinking (by: Edward Burger and Michael Starbird)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last Spring I attended a lecture by Dr. Edward Burger (president of Southwestern University, and perhaps the most famous math teacher since Pythagoras), and received this book: <u>The Five Elements of Effective Thinking</u> (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/5-Elements-Effective-Thinking-ebook/dp/B008JUVDUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390828913&sr=8-1&keywords=the+five+elements+of+effective+thinking" target="_blank">buy it here</a> on Amazon) by Edward Burger and Michael Starbird. It's a quick read with lots of useful thoughts. It ties in nicely with the "growth mindset" research of Carol Dweck, which I've written about on this blog before (and I recommend you search it up). The five elements in the title correspond to chapters in the book, and so that's how I'll organize my blog posts. Each one will be a post with a summary, some critical quotes, and a little personal commentary. Below are links to my posts for each of the five chapters.<br />
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Chapter 1: <a href="http://100greatbooks.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-five-elements-of-effective-thinking_28.html" target="_blank">Understand Deeply</a><br />
Chapter 2: <a href="http://100greatbooks.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-five-elements-of-effective-thinking_29.html" target="_blank">Fail to Succeed</a><br />
Chapter 3: <a href="http://100greatbooks.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-five-elements-of-effective-thinking_30.html" target="_blank">Raise Questions</a><br />
Chapter 4: <a href="http://100greatbooks.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-five-elements-of-effective-thinking_31.html" target="_blank">Seeing the Flow of Ideas</a><br />
Chapter 5: <a href="http://100greatbooks.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-five-elements-of-effective-thinking.html" target="_blank">Engaging Change</a></div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-22912419062987940952014-01-27T07:49:00.000-05:002014-01-27T07:49:02.233-05:00Edward Hopper and Beautiful Things<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of the themes I started on this blog a while back revolved around Beauty and its importance in the world and in our lives. I picked up a pseudo-random book from the library the other day (<u>The Art of Travel</u> by Alain de Botton). The book was just okay; it didn't contain anything I thought was worth sharing, but it had excellent illustrations that were selected to fit the mood of certain sections of the book. One of the sections used a couple of paintings by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hopper" target="_blank">Edward Hopper</a>, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy his work and was inspired to share a little bit of it here. So here's to putting a little beauty in your day!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytb5Skr83S2xX7uVb-2KaOydUL4B2BMbjfdo_I9xrX4QtHUQyj7HRRmRw4u9JUjkpf7RXy8fvabxdiva_3NajPHFpXdJtx7sbbbG3RSYUzVPB5U7FPLnbVRedGi7QaUhANCJNZKvgSbM/s1600/400px-Nighthawks_by_Edward_Hopper_1942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytb5Skr83S2xX7uVb-2KaOydUL4B2BMbjfdo_I9xrX4QtHUQyj7HRRmRw4u9JUjkpf7RXy8fvabxdiva_3NajPHFpXdJtx7sbbbG3RSYUzVPB5U7FPLnbVRedGi7QaUhANCJNZKvgSbM/s1600/400px-Nighthawks_by_Edward_Hopper_1942.jpg" height="174" width="320" /></a></div>
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This first selection is probably Hopper's most famous and most "spoofed" work, "Nighthawks". One of the recurring themes of Hopper's work that I enjoy is his exploration of "ordinary" American life. But the painting raises more questions than it answers: Who are these people? Why are they up late? Why are they at a diner? What's the story with the man and the woman in the red dress (because it seems that there must be some kind of story.)?<br />
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This is called "Apartment 3c". This was one of the pieces used in the book I mentioned above in a section on train travel. I'm not sure why I like this piece so much, but let me take a couple guesses: 1) the dominant color is green; this may seem trivial, but certain colors draw us in and set a certain kind of mood. 2) The young woman depicted is reading, and I love images of people reading, because reading is such a personal thing, it transports us to another place, and we become lost in whatever we read. And the idea of watching someone forget themselves and become engrossed in something is enticing to me. 3) There's a young woman, traveling alone on an overnight train (the sun is setting in the background and she doesn't look like she's getting off soon). What's the story there?! Again, Hopper leaves me with more questions than answers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPwSX2D37Oh17SMdmXkM3qyYmVxEBDRjRVCHWImljXtYinxWaUsjJnw9vR9-I-SYv4PRBlR4k4LqhN8ffZhPl4t1cjt7zL9-XL62xaYuwfwOc5ckl53i2vj3OAppsQfKfm5iskNZHBmo/s1600/hopper.chair-car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPwSX2D37Oh17SMdmXkM3qyYmVxEBDRjRVCHWImljXtYinxWaUsjJnw9vR9-I-SYv4PRBlR4k4LqhN8ffZhPl4t1cjt7zL9-XL62xaYuwfwOc5ckl53i2vj3OAppsQfKfm5iskNZHBmo/s1600/hopper.chair-car.jpg" height="250" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm going to let this one stand without commentary. It caught my eye and I like it. Enough.<br />
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Last, but not least, I thought I'd share one of his landscapes, because, although he's not known for them, Hopper has a way of taking a landscape and bringing it alive, of making me feel like I'm actually there. It's also fun to see him work his magic with a bright blue ocean and bright sea-scape, instead of the interior of a train. It just goes to show his versatility and skill.<br />
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Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little share. I'm really going to try hard to update the blog more often. This year has been killer at school, and I just haven't had the kind of time for other pursuits that I used to.</div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-71744621909002787882013-11-28T09:19:00.001-05:002013-12-22T08:00:47.417-05:00The Most Valuable Mental HabitYears ago, in college, as my mind was being stretched and shaped by a few key professors, I remember being in conversation with Dr. Wickersham one day. I do not remember specifically what we were talking about, but I finally thought I had put together a solid and intelligent point, and as soon as I "had my footing" in the conversation, Wickersham took the whole thing to another level, examining what we were discussing from a larger perspective. <b><u>He had cultivated the habit of seeing particular things as specific examples of a larger generalizable order.</u></b> This habit, I believe, is the most valuable intellectual habit one can acquire in school. I have believed this since that conversation, and my experience as a teacher has only confirmed my original belief.<div><br></div><div>The ability to generalize and see something as part of a larger structure, as part of a pattern, not just an isolated incident, is especially important in math (the subject I teach). I am constantly trying to get my students to see the larger "class" of problems that a specific problem belongs to, because once we learn to solve a few specific examples, we can work out a general solution for all problems of that type. The quadratic equation is a good example of this. There are many variations on the theme of quadratics (2nd degree equations), and many ways to solve certain kinds of quadratics, but the quadratic equation is the general solution to <b><u>all</u></b> quadratics.</div><div><br></div><div>Some students seem naturally good at this skill, whether because of their environment, up-bringing, or personality. Other students have tremendous difficulty with this, even after it has been repeatedly demonstrated and highlighted. What interests me is: what is the most effective way to teach this concept and to get students to apply it on their own? If anyone has any thoughts, feel free to share them in the comments.</div><div><br></div><div>Also, I apologize for my absence recently; school has been very busy! Thanks to the reader who posted the nice comment about looking forward to my next post! It's always nice to know I'm not shouting into the wind.</div><div><br></div><div>Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!</div>Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-11200346003116939272013-10-30T18:08:00.001-04:002013-10-30T18:08:07.504-04:00iNACOL 2013I have just finished attending my first iNACOL conference. Imagine a group of educators gathering with a common dream to improve educational experiences for students. One of the things that most impressed me with this conference was that despite the fact that everyone at the conference was interested in using technology in their classrooms, that was not the focus. Everything was focused on students, and improving education for them. I was awed and inspired and challenged by the presenters and my fellow conference attendees.<div><br></div><div>Here are a sampling of the "big ideas" I took away from my first iNACOL:<div><br></div><div>We are striving to prepare an ever more diverse population of students for an increasingly challenging and rapidly changing future. The problems we face in modernity are more complex than those of the past, and today's students need to be tomorrow's leaders and problem solvers. We have a duty to prepare students to meet their future with confidence, capacity, and competency. Dewey said it best: ""</div><div><br></div><div>As educators, we need to develop a critical understanding of how the brain works, and specifically how the brain learns (cognitive science), so that we can apply that knowledge in our classrooms to solve problems.</div><div><br></div><div>We cannot rely on technology to solve our educational problems. We need brain research-based solutions that are student centered. Technology can be used as a tool to implement our solutions and scale them, but the technology itself will never solve our problems.</div><div><br></div><div>We must become design experts, understanding how to engage students in relevant issues, training them to think critically, analytically, quantitatively, qualitatively, globally, locally, etc. Everything we do should start with the student experience, and we should build out from there.</div><div><br></div><div>We need to train students to solve problems that are based in the real world.</div><div><br></div><div>We need to give students choice in what they learn, how they learn it, and when they learn it. We need to empower students to drive their own personalized education and hold them to high standards when demonstrating their mastery of material.</div><div><br></div><div>Some traits of successful persons in the future will be: adaptability, creativity, learn from mistakes, perseverance, the ability to understand complex systems without being reductionist, growth oriented, curious, able to make connections...</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-87230967478081221962013-08-01T10:09:00.000-04:002013-08-01T10:10:59.077-04:00The Arts and Sciences in Education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Washington Post recently posed this on its website (<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/humanities-majors-make-your-case/2013/07/30/0abc2b7c-f8a0-11e2-b018-5b8251f0c56e_page.html">link here</a>):<br /><br />Humanities majors: Make your case<br /><br />The demand for employees skilled in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields continues to rise, as does the cost of education. So, does the United States need more humanities majors? Or should students pass on the humanities in favor of STEM degrees? And, if they do, will it help the United States maintain an innovation edge? Guest writers have made the “yes” and “no” case both on TV and with us here. Now, it’s your turn. Do we need more humanities majors? Cast your vote, and then defend it in the comments below.<br /> <br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/07/30/we-need-more-humanities-majors/">YES: We need more humanities majors</a> <br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/07/30/we-dont-need-more-humanities-majors/">NO: We don’t need more humanities majors</a> <br /><br /><br /><div>
Begin Commentary:<br /><br />There has been a lot of ink in the press lately about the liberal arts and their "value" (a word which sometimes obscures more than it reveals). The above poll from the Washington Post is just the most recent example. In this post I'd like to suggest that the question above is not framed properly. It pits "STEM" fields against the "humanities". This, to me, is a false dichotomy. I have a BA in mathematics, and then went back to school to pursue post BA education in classical languages (Greek and Latin). I did both, because both enriched me as a person. Both gave me valid and useful perspectives and tools. Both taught me to think about things in new ways. Both challenged me to stretch my understanding of myself, our world, and contemporary issues.<br /><br />I would like to humbly suggest that any life that is deprived of either science and math OR the humanities (art, music, history, literature, language study, etc.) is incomplete. And that an individual's education should not be about "getting a job" or "maintaining an innovation edge", but about improving one's self. Education isn't a means to a goal; it is the goal. (Thank you Andrew Abbott, for that insight!)<br /><br />Furthermore, I would suggest that both the arts and the sciences achieve their greatest significance when they learn from one another. The study of science and mathematics can bring new insight to the fields traditionally assigned to the humanities, and the humanities can inform science and mathematics. I believe the world might be a better place if a few more scientists read a little more Kurt Vonnegut and Plato, and a few more literature majors took the time to learn Calculus and Physics. <br /><br />In the words of Alfred North Whitehead, "You cannot divide the seamless cloak of knowledge." And to borrow from Aaron Sorkin's dialogue in "The West Wing" (in the episode "Gone Quiet"), "There is a connection between progress of a society and progress in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo Da Vinci. The age of Elizabeth was the age of Shakespeare."</div>
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-47255363190954756752013-07-04T12:09:00.002-04:002013-07-04T12:09:32.467-04:00John of Salisbury<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My favorite post-classical educational philosopher is John of Salisbury. He was a 12th century English scholar and statesman. John was the secretary of two successive archbishops of Canterbury (Theobald and Becket), and a noted author. He wrote a biography of Becket, and he wrote two more famous works: one on politics, <u>Policraticus</u>, and one on education, <u>Metalogicon</u>.<div>
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John was a staunch defender of the <i>artes liberales</i> (the liberal arts, or the arts which have the power to free the human soul). One of my favorite quotes from the <u>Metalogicon</u> is:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Noteworthy-Light; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">The liberal arts are said to have become so efficacious among our ancestors, who studied them diligently, that they enabled them to comprehend everything they read, elevated their understanding to all things, and empowered them to cut through the knots of all problems possible of solution.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This, to me, is the true measure of a great education. Those who are truly educated have the tools to analyze and acquire new information and understanding. A strong liberal arts background equips one with those tools.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For those who are regular readers, I've started reading the collected works of Thomas Jefferson. So expect quotes and thoughts from one of my favorite Americans to be coming soon!</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Keep reading!</span></span></div>
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-59649422636649163612013-06-28T15:58:00.001-04:002013-06-28T15:58:10.566-04:00Awesome Short-Short Story...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I was listening to <a href="http://www.radiolab.org/" target="_blank">RadioLab</a> today while jogging, and I heard Jenny Hollowell read her short-short story "A History of Everything, Including You." It was amazing! I'm embedding the audio here for you to hear (no pun intended). It happens toward the beginning. It's worth 5 minutes!<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="54" scrolling="no" src="//www.radiolab.org/widgets/ondemand_player/#file=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.radiolab.org%2Faudio%2Fxspf%2F298146%2F;containerClass=radiolab" width="474"></iframe></div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-14471375787607117692013-06-27T08:53:00.000-04:002013-06-27T08:53:03.518-04:00Player Piano XXI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"'To a better world,' he started to say, but he cut the toast short, thinking of the people of Ilium, already eager to recreate the same old nightmare. he shrugged. 'To the record,' he said, and smashed the empty bottle on a rock." (340)</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Comments:</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">At the end of the book, there is a great revolt among the "common people" in Ilium, and they destroy all kinds of machines in their outrage. The government cordons off the whole section. But within a few days, there are people taking the smashed pieces of technology and putting them together in new ways and being "awed" by the technology just as they were before. Here I think Vonnegut speaks to the power of technology to "awe" us, to astound us even. It's more of a feeling than a thought. If you've never felt this awe, I encourage you to watch some of the videos of the testing of the Trinity bomb (the first atom bomb); or watch an Apple keynote from a WWDC. Apple does a wonderful job of generating this feeling of "Wow..." when you watch them display their products.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But for all the amazement that we instinctively feel toward these new technologies, I think we need to cultivate a healthy skepticism as well. A sampling of the questions that are worth considering when it comes to new technology: Who will benefit from this "advancement"? How will this new technology enable humans to be better humans? How will this new technology affect me (my behavior, my cognition, my emotion, etc.) and other humans? Is this new technology environmentally sound (does it harm the planet's ecosystems)? Is this new technology necessary? Does it do more than just distract me?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Be a gadfly. Ask tough questions. Socrates said that humans ought not to live unexamined lives. It seems to me that as a culture, as a human race, we've lost that truth. Let's take-up the banner once again to challenge ourselves and each other to live the examined life, rather than blithely going along with whatever corporations and governments tell us.</span></span></div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-63876262818529311572013-06-26T07:29:00.001-04:002013-06-26T07:29:50.691-04:00Player Piano XX<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"The main business of humanity is to do a good job of being human beings, not to serve as appendages to machines, institutions, and systems." (315)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"We'll rediscover the two greatest wonders of the world, the human mind and hand." (336)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A double dose today. I think these two snippets do a nice job of summing up the central themes of Vonnegut's <u>Player Piano</u>. I have one more quote that I'll drop tomorrow sometime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As an educator, I'm thinking to myself that Vonnegut's <u>Player Piano</u> holds a lot of challenging assertions, and that despite having been written in 1952, it speaks to our modern condition (which is the true test of a "great work"; it's why we still read the <u>Iliad</u> and Dante's <u>Inferno</u>). Now would seem a good time to re-introduce this classic American novel into our classrooms. We need more people asking critical questions of our "systems" (corporations and governments); we need more Pauls in our world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Our very "progress" oriented and technologically oriented 21st century United States, has, I believe, put the cart before the horse. Instead of making decisions based on what's best for humans, we're doing what's best for the sake of efficiency (economic or otherwise), and we're driving a technological agenda without regard for how it's affecting human beings. If you want a good synopsis of the early findings on the result of prolonged interaction with technology on the human brain, read Nicholas Carr's <u>The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains</u>.</span><br />
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-58834442175593653112013-06-24T16:17:00.000-04:002013-06-24T16:17:35.050-04:00Player Piano XIX<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"Machines and organization and pursuit of efficiency have robbed the American people of liberty and the pursuit of happiness." (314)</span></div>
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Vonnegut wrote that in 1952. It is worth our time, in 2013, to consider the question: "Has the pursuit of efficiency robbed the American people of liberty and the pursuit of happiness?" I don't think we could unequivocally affirm this idea. But certainly the drive for efficiency in the realm of finance and banking has created a dangerous system that is having negative impacts upon the lives of many people through the recession we've been dealing with for the last five years.</div>
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In what ways do our current culture, economy, and government, put efficiency and organization as higher priorities than the needs of the people?</div>
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While I was reading <u>Player Piano</u>, the main theme seemed to revolve around the effect of technology on the lives of human beings. I still think this is true, but as I reflect upon the critical quotes I pulled out of the book and post them here on this blog, I think Vonnegut's text is a call to reflection on the proper place of technology in a civilization. The text now seems to me to be summoning us to ask critical questions about who is running "the show", and whose best interests do they have in mind? Cui bono?</div>
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Paul (the protagonist), and Vonnegut by extension, is not really anti-technology. He's pro-human, and he's upset that humans have subjugated themselves (their needs, instincts, and gifts) to the realm of technology and machines. In the "fictional" world of <u>Player Piano</u>, decisions are being made based on what's best for "progress" and for the advance of "technology" rather than what's best for people. This is a central focus I think the book explores, and calls each of us to explore.</div>
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-42019322303116457462013-06-23T12:38:00.003-04:002013-06-23T12:38:27.859-04:00Player Piano XVIII<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"You perhaps disagree with the antique and vain notion of Man's being a creation of God. But I find it a far more defensible belief than the one implicit in intemperate faith in lawless technological progress--namely, that man is on earth to create more durable and efficient images of himself, and, hence, to eliminate any justification at all for his own continued existence." (302-03)</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the great gifts of philosophy is that it always brings us back to the bedrock questions of humanity: Why am I (or humanity if you prefer) here? What is the purpose of my existence and how can I best achieve this purpose? What is the "good" life? How does one cultivate virtue and happiness? Yay for philosophy! Do we exist to create fancier machines? I think not.</span></span><br />
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-77617764773324043922013-06-18T11:37:00.003-04:002013-06-18T11:37:33.465-04:00Piano Player XVII<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"Without regard for the wishes of men, any machines or techniques or forms of organization that can economically replace men do replace men. Replacement is not necessarily bad, but to do it without regard for the wishes of men is lawlessness. Without regard for the changes in human life patterns that may result, new machines, new forms of organization, new ways of increasing efficiency, are constantly being introduced. To do this without regard for the effects on life patterns is lawlessness." (301-02)</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Vonnegut here makes an interesting point that has not been taken into consideration in the 60 years since he wrote <u>Player Piano</u>. Our culture's "method" for adopting new technology over the past 150 years has been to ask: can we do it? If the answer was yes, then we said, "How can we do it in a way that saves money?" And then we did it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Can we make an internal combustion engine? Yes. How will it save us money? Engines can be put to work doing the work of hundreds of thousands of employees. You have to pay employees; you don't have to pay machines. No one asked the employees whether this was what they wanted. Please don't misunderstand me: the internal combustion engine has had a profound impact on our development as a society, and has had positive effects. But it has had some lousy effects too (the exhaust that planes and auto-mobiles put into the atmosphere alone is a staggering thought, not to mention the health effects those chemicals will have on our children's children's children...). </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My point is that when confronted with new technology, no one stops and says: what are the pros and cons of this? Who will it affect? Can we alter it somehow to limit the downside? If the upside of a new technology is increased profit for a company, and the downside is all on the government, society, or individual, should we say to the company, "No, you cannot make this technology, because your device adversely affects people."?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This raises an interesting question: do companies have obligations to their employees (their nation/culture? their world?) beyond those outlined in the employment contract? Should a company consider how new policies, practices, "advancements", machines, tools, software, etc. will impact its employees (or their nation, world, or humanity?) before adopting them?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><u><b>The point here is that unfettered "development" of new technologies or "advancements" without proper oversight, control, consideration, and questioning is not a good thing. As a society, we need a well-formed conscience that puts human beings first, ahead of machines, corporations, efficiency, and profit.</b></u></span></span><br />
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-75365341991580532742013-06-13T09:25:00.000-04:002013-06-13T09:25:15.743-04:00Player Piano XVI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"Man has survived Armageddon in order to enter the Eden of eternal peace, only to discover that everything he had looked forward to enjoying there, pride, dignity, self-respect, work worth doing, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption." (301)</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I sometimes wonder if we aren't headed down a path that leads to this conclusion. So often, especially as an educator, I hear people disparage manual labor. But I think a healthy balance of hard work with intellectual activity is one way to find fulfillment. As much as I complain about doing yard work, I always feel a deep satisfaction after spending a day in the yard and seeing the beauty that my hard work accomplished.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I think the best outcome of technological progress would be if we, as a human race, could leverage technology for our mutual benefit, to raise up the poorest people in the world, and to eliminate the need for us to do unpleasant tasks. This could enable us to reconnect with a simpler way of life; a way of life that shows more respect for our planet and our fellow humans. <b><u>If every human could pursue a life course that s/he wanted and allowed her/him activate her/his greatest potential, we could truly enter the "Eden of eternal peace" Vonnegut writes about.</u></b></span></span><br />
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-1353877523062228802013-06-11T17:13:00.002-04:002013-06-11T17:13:13.473-04:00Empathy and Technology<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday, I wrote a post about the effect of technology on our values (inspired by a Vonnegut quote). Today, I found <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/how-not-to-be-alone.html?smid=pl-share" target="_blank">this article</a> in the New York Times about empathy and how technology can connect and distance us from human interaction at the same time. Worth checking out!</div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-46911460179826690242013-06-10T18:34:00.004-04:002013-06-10T18:34:57.256-04:00Player Piano XV<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"People are finding that, because of the way the machines are changing the world, more and more of their old values don't apply any more. People have no choice but to become second-rate machines themselves, or wards of the machines." (290)</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the United States, at least, the past century has seen dramatic technological "progress", and, simultaneously, we've seen a seismic shift in values. The question is: has the development of new technologies been a driver for shifting cultural values? Just because two things happen at the same time does not necessarily mean that one causes the other.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For example, you could ask what effect e-mail has had on hand-written letters. Obviously people write fewer hand-written letters or notes because of the advent of e-mail. But that's not necessarily a "value". "Communication" seems to be a higher priority today than it was decades ago, because technology has given people greater mobility. No longer are families necessarily concentrated in proximate geography. Separation of space has led to ever more elaborate means of communication (telegraph, telephone, email, text message, video-phone, etc.); but one could reasonably question of the <u>quality</u> of newer modes of communication. Obviously you cannot express in a single tweet what you would have written in a letter 50 years ago; but that's not the purpose of Twitter. You could turn that letter into an e-mail without losing much. But I will say that "communication" seems to be growing more telegraphic (no pun intended) with the advent of Twitter, Facebook, and text messages. When was the last time you sent or received a lengthy e-mail that contained significant personal information? I would argue that while we have more means of communicating at our disposal than we did 15-20 years ago, the general quality of our communication has decreased in recent years. The "value" seems to be on quantity, not quality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Has technology driven this shift (if you agree with my assessment in the previous paragraph)? Driven is a strong word, but I think we can say that technology has contributed to this shift. Technology has certainly enabled this shift. It's easy, today, to "feel connected" to people through Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc., but I suspect that much of the "connection" that we feel is veneer, and a thin one at that. Stars, retweets, likes, and inane (and often impersonal) comments are no substitute for long, deep, consistent conversations about life's enduring questions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is worth noting that Nietzsche bought a typewriter when his vision began to fail toward the end of his life, and within a couple months of using it to compose instead of writing long-hand, he noted a change in the style of his writing. He felt that the technology of the typewriter altered the way he composed. Composition style isn't necessarily a "value" either, but I think there's good evidence that technological changes are impacting us at a micro and macro level as humans.</span><br />
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-81393256303743186722013-06-07T16:30:00.002-04:002013-06-07T16:30:32.093-04:00Piano Player XIV<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The previous post began a brief exploration of Vonnegut's criticisms of collegiate sports in Player Piano, and the next few quotes all come from the same scene. If you missed it, I would recommend going back and re-reading the previous post. This scene takes place in chapter 28.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As Roseberry tries to talk Buck Young into quitting school to join the football team, an engineer from the Ithica works, Harrison, who worked with Paul, intervenes. He says to Young...</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"Here you are at a crossroads, my boy. You're lucky. Not many crossroads left for people. Nothing but one-way streets with cliffs on both sides." (279)</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The "progress" of their society has taken away most of the options for people. Most people's fortunes and futures are pigeon-holed as they take various aptitude tests and either become part of the elite "engineers and managers" of society, or they join the army or the "reeks and wrecks" (a civilian workforce). And Harrison goes on to suggest this to Buck Young...</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"'If you are good,' he said, 'and if you are thoughtful, a fractured pelvis on the gridiron will pain you less than a life of engineering and management. In that life, believe me, the thoughtful, the sensitive, those who can recognize the ridiculous, die a thousand deaths.'" (279)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, Harrison says...</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"Go out and make your money on the gridiron, with blood and sweat and sinew. There's honor and glory in that--a little, anyway--and you'll never hate yourself." (280)</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This chapter gives us more insight into how the "progress" of technology in this fictional society has damaged the opportunities for people and how it has sucked the life and soul out of those who "manage" the "progress". Harrison, a man who can certainly "recognize the ridiculous", has been sapped dry by the "system".</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">How many crossroads do people have today? Are we, as a society, making more paths for people to be successful or are we cutting off pathways to success? Is a society responsible for helping its citizens be successful? Is society better if more of its citizens achieve some measure of success? How can society open up more paths to success for individuals?</span></span><br />
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-38554101188832371092013-06-06T08:01:00.000-04:002013-06-06T08:01:27.563-04:00Player Piano XIII<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Introduction: The next few quotes from <u>Player Piano</u> are from what I think is a really pivotal scene. There's a bright young man, Buck Young, studying at Cornell to be an engineer/manager, which would ensure him a future among the muck-a-mucks in the administration of the country as he rose through the ranks. But it turns out that Young is also a great football player. So there is this great scene in a bar, in which Cornell's football coach, Roseberry, tries to convince Young to play for him. The twist is that in Vonnegut's fictional society, students who play football are not allowed to go to school!<br />
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It seems that Vonnegut here is making fun of universities and the old stereotypes of "students" recruited to universities for their football-playing abilities, who then never attended a single class, but somehow managed to graduate anyway. In the world in <u>Player Piano</u>, the football coach, Roseberry, has a huge budget, a beautiful office, and his team brings lots of money into the university, both in donations and in ticket sales. While Roseberry is trying to persuade Young to leave school and join the football team, Young asks if he couldn't do both, because he really doesn't want to give up school. Roseberry's reply <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">is classic:</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"You can't play college football, and go to school. They tried that once, and you know what a silly mess that was." (278)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So, the next few quotes are going to come from this scene in which Vonnegut takes a healthy poke at what he saw in 1952 as some of the issues in collegiate athletics. The sad part is, with all of the scandals in collegiate athletics we've seen in the last few years, I think this section of his book is as meaningful now as it was when he wrote it. Perhaps if a few more athletic directors and university presidents read Vonnegut, we would learn some lessons and improve.</span><br />
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Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834892615849994529.post-38353842837018338882013-05-27T08:17:00.004-04:002013-05-27T08:17:40.531-04:00School and Education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">“</span><span class="quote" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; margin-top: 0px; outline: none 0px;">High school, it seems, has changed. It has become competitive. Young men and women — 13 to 18 years old — must work more or less tirelessly to ensure their spot at a college deemed worthy to them and their families. So rather than living their adolescent lives — lives brimming with desires and vitality, with vim, vigor, and brewing lust — these kids are working at old age homes, cramming for tests, popping Adderall just to make the literal and proverbial grade. And for what? So they can go to a school that puts them in debt for the rest of their lives. School has become a great vehicle of capitalism: it quashes the revolution implicit in adolescence while simultaneously fomenting perpetual indebtedness.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">” (Daniel Coffeen)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I'll get back to Vonnegut and <u>Player Piano</u> soon, but I wanted to share this quote I found online. I don't necessarily agree with everything in the quote, but I think the author has a point that in developing an educational system for teenagers, we've lost some of what makes this time of life unique and enjoyable. I particularly like his point at the end. <b>Real education should challenge students to think and live outside the constraints of the previous generation. It should push us into new frontiers and experiences to enrich and deepen our understanding of the human experience.</b> Unfortunately, I think, too often, we get caught up in the informational side of education and forget the formative side of it. Education should impact who we are throughout our lives; it should be about more than just memorizing information for an exam (something I think about a lot this time of year with exams around the corner or just behind us).</span></div>
Ben Doughertyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510056573445430631noreply@blogger.com0