A Whole New Mind Part II Reflection: Metaphor & Empathy

 Metaphor:

The Articles of Confederation & Soccer

     This weekend I worked on the creation of a Powerpoint on the Articles of Confederation for my niece. At a later time, I hope to transfer my Powerpoint with audio lecture into Youtube. At the end of the lecture, I realized that my niece was still struggling to comprehend the problem of the states having more power than the government. My niece is an avid soccer player, and she truly enjoys the sport. I decided to employ a metaphor that compared the effects of the Articles of Confederation to that upon a soccer team. I asked my niece to imagine that situation that would arise if each individual player decided what position they would play and at whatever allotted time and point of the game they decided. I asked her to consider the chaos of all the player agreeing upon each facet of the game. I saw in her eyes a look of understanding, she now realized that the lack of strong executive power (a President) under the Articles of Confederation, caused the problems that would be the equivalent of a lack of a Coach on her soccer team. Pink writes in the chapter entitled "Symphony": "In fact, metaphor is central to reason...Metaphorical thinking is also important because it helps us understand others..."(139).

Empathy as a Powerful Tool for Educators

     Not only did I employ a metaphor to help my niece better understand U.S. History, but I also employed it as a means of putting myself in her shoes, to understand her confusion. Therefore, I employed what Pink describes as one of the six senses needed in the rise of the Conceptual Age: Empathy. Pink defines empathy in the following manner: "Empathy is a stunning act of imaginative deterring-do, the ultimate virtual reality-- climbing into another's mind to experience the world from that person's perspective" (159). Empathy can be a powerful tool for educators. In my example of tutoring my niece, one learner, I was able to see a huge success in employing the use of a metaphor and empathy. As educators, we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the students, so that we can better see why they struggle, and then be able to become better educators.

20% Project: Online Educational Resources

My 20% project has been evolving on a weekly basis. I started out with the idea to make online video lessons for my niece and nephew that I tutor in Spanish and History. I have not made a video yet, but I have begun to explore a variety of online educational resources that I believe fit each of them as individual learners. So far, I have used Quizlet and Prezi, you can see an earlier blog post entitled "Update on 20%" for more about those resources. I still want to create a online video lesson, but I do feel like I am working my way up to it. This week, I assigned my niece a different studying method that I think fits her as a visual learner. I found a great website that has free interactive graphic organizers, and you can type directly into them and then save the document as a pdf. The graphic organizers are designed by Holt (click for link). Here is a screenshot of the types of graphic organizers available on their website:

The Essence of Connected Learning: Creativity & the Student

In the video "The Essence of Connected Learning"(click link) the point that I found to be the most "at the heart of the matter" was in regards to how we look at education. Connie Yowell discusses how when we talk about education we refer begin to the outcomes. She further describes the further underlying problem with this approach is that we don't look at how the learners or students are. She goes on to say that their "core question" involves the level of the student's engagement in the learning process. I think that this is the approach that should be taken by not only the teacher in the classroom, but really all educators. If the student is engaged in the learning process in an authentic manner, it only follows then that the set standards will be reached. Now, I understand that this logic is not perfect. But the bottom line is that if the student is not engaged authentically in the learning, then they most likely won't be gaining the content and knowledge that is expected of them.
     The discussion of mentorship and connectedness among learners I found to also be a key element of learning. I think that mentorship is especially important with learners that are struggling academically, because they can quickly develop into having a low self-efficacy. This can then only make the learner less likely to improve in school. Mentorship, can open the doors of opportunity by talking to someone about their gifts and aspirations, and the mentor can then help keep them on track in school and beyond.

Update on my 20% Project: Prezi & Quizlet

     This is the first week I decided to actually begin working on my 20% project. I asked my niece and nephew to tell me what specific areas they needed the most help on. My niece told me she was confused about Shays' Rebellion. I decided to use Prezi to make her a presentation, but I did it in Spanish, because she is in a Spanish dual immersion U.S. history course. The translation for that is, that her class is taught in the Spanish language regarding U.S. History content. My Prezi is not perfect, but it was my first time making a presentation through it. There is a way to embed audio, but it seemed like a complex and tedious process. So my only complaint with Prezi is that I think they should develop some way to insert audio via Prezi. Check out my presentation! Interestingly enough, I wasn't able to find one single presentation via Youtube or Prezi that covered Shays' Rebellion in Spanish. I think that this is something that hasn't quite been worked on. I find it to be very exciting to be going through uncharted waters. I also did a Google search for hashtags on Twitter used by dual immersion educators, but I didn't find one. I'm considering the idea of starting one...

Rebelión de Shays on Prezi

    On the other hand, my nephew is most struggling with his Spanish course and he needed help with studying his vocabulary list. I decided, since he has an ipad, he might be interested in Quizlet. So I created a flashcard deck for him, but what I like best about Quizlet, is this "scatter" game where you must match the word with the correct definition to make it disappear, and it is timed. Give it a try down below (even if you don't know Spanish) just to see how it works!

Using Free-Time Online for Civic Benefit

     In the video "How Cognitive Surplus Will Change the World" (Below) by Clay Shirky, he discusses the notion of a culture of generosity. He defines primarily in a concrete example of a daycare that started a "fine" for parents who picked up their children late, and how the number of parents picking up their children late actually rose, and remained high even after the fine was suspended. Yet, throughout the video he discuses the culture of generosity in the terms of how sharing of one's creative talents via online tools, can lead to wonderful civic projects, that can indeed be enjoyed by all.       As for how the "culture of generosity" can be employed in the classroom, I can see many possibilities. Ideally, I would like to have my students participate in some type of service project or social justice issue, in a concrete manner. I understand that the first step would be a create a culture of generosity within my classroom, perhaps through peer tutoring; where students are paired to help one another in the classroom. Then I would like to evolve this generosity to the level of the school, such as helping the students organize an appreciate luncheon for the custodial staff and other members that can be under-appreciated at a school. Lastly, it would be for the students to participate in a larger community project that hopefully touches their community. I know these are big ideas, and that it would not all be done in a short period of time, but I do believe that it would be an attainable project.       What it means to say that "Free cultures get what they celebrate," there is a reference to all of the "free time" that people use to create and share things online.  Shirky goes on to describe how we should celebrate people who use their free time to create online projects that have a greater civic benefit. That being said, it would be great to have a classroom blog that shares about the "culture of generosity" in the classroom, and potential service projects, that could inspire other educators.      On a last note, this weekend I plan to create a couple of videos for my niece and nephew on their course content. I hope that it will be useful to not only them, but perhaps their classmates, and others. Hopefully, my 20% project can be at least a small contribution that can be considered a civic benefit. It is my intention to make the videos spoken in Spanish, so that it can specifically target the students in Spanish dual-immersion middle school programs, like my niece and nephew.

"Filter Bubbles" on the Internet

     In a video and an article, Eli Pariser discusses the dangers of "filter bubbles" on the internet. He basically describes how search engines such as Google, and social media websites such as Facebook, are curtailing exactly what we see. At a first glance it may seem to be a positive thing, doesn't everyone want an individualized Facebook and Google search results? But the problem lies in the fact that Facebook and Google is doing this automatically for us, without us even realizing it. Even if we do realize it, there isn't a setting available to "un-mask" or "disable" these filters that the computer whizzes have set up with a program.  It makes me draw parallels to the problem of traditional history textbooks that barely consist of minority figures and women. The students then learn a history where these groups are usually missing, or just peppered in at certain stages of history, and then they just seem to vanish from history. If the student is not seeing them in their textbook, they are seeing a history that is incomplete. Similarly the Google results may be tailored to us, but we are also seeing a very incomplete Google search list of results.

In the video, Pariser shows two different Google results for Egypt. Although the date is much different, I decided to take a screenshot of my Google results for Egypt. What did you come up with? Different or similar?

Reflection Part I: A Whole New Mind by: Daniel H. Pink

     In the book entitled: A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future Daniel Pink argues that we are in the midst of a new age in history. He coins this new age as the "Conceptual Age" where we need to be more Right-brained, while still utilizing the left-brain. Pink provides a historical context, by outlining the transition from an "Agriculture Age" to "Industrial Age" to "Information Age" to what he coins to be the "Conceptual Age" as seen in Figure 3.1 of his text (Pink 49). Pink explains that due to the outsourcing of jobs to places like India, mechanical and at times rote jobs, such as computer engineering, seem to be in danger in the U.S. He argues that since it is the Left side of the brain that is predominantly focused with linear and analytic thinking: "...sequential, literal, functional, textual, and analytic" (Pink 26); and these types of jobs are being outsourced  there is a need for a shift on the use of the right-side of the brain. Pink describes the right-side of the brain as encompassing the following attributes: "simultaneous, metaphorical, aesthetic, contextual, and synthetic" (Pink 26). Pink argues that the "Conceptual Age" is one that focuses more on the use of the creative right-side of the brain, but asserts that the left-side of the brain is of course still needed. He refers to an interesting synthesis of both side of the brains, in which the analytic business (left side) will need to be paired with the more creative artistic side (right side). The need for the right side, lies in the fact that it is no longer sufficient to simply create products like the factories did, in uniform ways, but rather the design itself is what needs to appeal to people to consume. What makes the product or idea unique and creative, and therefore beautiful.
     Pink's argument is very logical and supported with many convincing examples. In particular, I would say I would agree with Pink, because through a different lens he is further supporting the theory of multiple intelligences as proposed by Howard Gardner. As an educator, I have been exposed to the reality of the different ways in which students learn, whether it be that they are stronger visual, kinesthetic, auditory learners, or a combination of those learning styles. The multiple intelligences theory is one that my eyes have been opened to in the classroom. In particular I found Pink's discussion about the alternative SAT dubbed the Rainbow Project to be enlightening. It is an exam that is not constricted to mere bubble in the correct answer, but truly requires students to be critical thinkers with a creative edge. This critical and creative combination that Pink discusses, is one that I hope I can one day pursue in my lessons, learning, teaching, with and by my students.

20% Project: Mini Lessons for Niece & Nephew

    During this course I have learned about several different webtools. It seems that there are many options of webtools to use for when it comes to teaching. I am very excited about all of these resources, but I would like to narrow down on the use of one webtool for the purpose of creating mini lessons. I am currently tutoring my niece and nephew. The subject my nephew most struggles with is Spanish (Spanish for Spanish Speakers 1/2), while the subject my niece most struggles with is U.S. History (8th Grade). Luckily, I am a native Spanish speaker and did major in Spanish at LMU. Also, my other major at LMU was History, and my current program for USD is focused on History/Social Sciences. So subject-wise, I feel like our tutoring sessions have been going well. But for my 20% project I would like to use one or two webtools to create online videos that range from 5 minutes to 10 minutes max. I want these videos to supplement the material they learn on a weekly basis, so that it can provide a review from a different lens. If, the videos are as effective as I would like them to be, I've considered notifying their respective teachers, so that the link can be made available to their classmates. I think these videos would be particularly helpful for students who are audio and visual learners. It would be my preference for the videos to have dynamic pictures and graphics and diagrams that help organize the content. My "angle" to also make these videos different than perhaps a bunch of other videos that have been already done, is to relate the content to current events or examples that the students can perhaps better relate to. Then the material will perhaps hold more meaning for them, and therefore be easier for them to grasp it. I look forward to hearing feedback on what type of webtools to use!

Communities of Practice: Sursum Corda Service Organization & PLN

                                                 

While reading the "Communities of Practice" article by Etienne Wegner, I couldn't help but reflect on my undergraduate experience at Loyola Marymount University. While I was there, I was honored to be part of a service organization called Sursum Corda (See the coat of arms above). This organization serves on-campus at LMU and in the greater Los Angeles community at a variety of placements ranging from after-school tutoring programs to beach clean-ups to spending time with the elderly. All members are required to fulfill a required number of service hours, although most members seemed to go over the requirement. What made this organization distinct was that a part of each weekly meeting was dedication to "Reflection." Wegner discusses the importance of reflection within a community of practice: "A growing number of associations, professional and otherwise, are seeking ways to focus on learning through reflection on practice." Even though the members serve at a variety of placements, we all learned from each other during this special time in which we were able to hear a reflection from one of our own in regards to their service, and then further invited to reflect upon the service we had done.

The service component on our own, without the reflection piece in a community of passionate members with the common goal to serve, would not be as powerful. It is the reflection which invites us to think about our service and the relationships we developed with those we serve with and for, that truly create a change within us. It is the reflection component that invites us to learn about other types of services and social justice issues that are going on in our world today.Indeed, it is now that I see that what made this organization so special was not that we did service, or all jammed 50 plus members into a room every Monday night, but it was the fact that we created a community of practice. A community in which we wanted to reflect and learn from another, and continue to grow in our passion to serve.

The application of the community of practice in my PLN that I can most see, is the possibility of joining one of the official moderated education chats on Twitter. I have yet to participate in one, but my understanding is that there is usually a set topic and a variety of people can comment on it. I could imagine the plethora of knowledge, experience, and advise coming from a variety of professional educators with unique experiences in education. It sounds like a perfect space to learn, share, and reflect from one another; with people who share the passion for education.

As for an article challenging the theory of communities of practice, there is an abstract which identified a few elements as "short-falls" of communities of practice: "Perspectives of time constraints, organizational hierarchies, and regional culture are highlighted, and propositions bearing consideration when implementing a community of practice are stated" (Kerno). Even with the notion of the Twitter chats with a set topic has itself some time constraints. Although I heard the moderated chats usually consist of two different times to address the time constraints issue. Yet, if you are not available during the set times for whatever reason, then you are losing out. The concept of "regional culture" as being a challenge to communities of practice is an interesting one. The internet allows for me to easily get advise from say an educator on the East Coast, but perhaps I won't fully understand this because I am from the West Coast? I would further challenge this constraint, because I would hope that as educators we not only are equipped to teach our students about diversity and how to respect it and learn from people different than ourselves, but that we actually live this out.

My Passion in Education

     One of my main passions in education is my belief that as an educator it is my goal to instill in students the tools necessary for them to become critical thinkers. To this effect, I would say that it is my passion to really challenge the "factory-model" in a school, which simply expects students to mechanically produce homework assignments and projects. This is not to say that I don't understand the value of a curriculum that requires certain topics to be covered in a course. I understand that these ramifications are needed to for educators to focus on different topics in the classroom. One day I hope to have a history classroom, that will indeed explore the state-mandated topics. But I would like to have a classroom where the students are able to experience the role of a historian, that is, to be able to analytically look at primary documents. I want my students to be critical thinkers who look at primary documents and secondary documents and understand that these texts are filled with biases. I would like for students to understand history as an important subject to learn, not simply as a series of facts and events. Rather students should understand that history is rooted in a series of stories. It is these stories that change depending on who tells them. Furthermore, in regards to world history, I hope that students are able to connect to the larger message of tolerance for the diversity present within our nation, in our classrooms, schools, and the world.

      If I had to narrow down my passion to a research topic it would be how to teach history in such a way that creates critical thinkers. I would like to further research how to break away from the factory-model type of education to one that challenges the students to do more than simply complete an assignment. The fundamental philosophy that I would rely on for this type of research would come from Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The concept behind the research project would be that if a teacher is challenging students to become critical thinkers by analyzing history, much like historians do, then the teacher is stopping the cycle of producing students that are mechanical. Students will no longer be able to get by with just completing an assignment or just copying notes. Rather they will be critical thinkers who would become the authentic leaders that Seth Godin discusses in his book Tribes.

Storify for Tribes by Seth Godin

This Storify is designed to capture the ideas that most resonated with me from the book Tribes by Seth Godin.

Results When I Google Searched My Name & My Family's Guacamole Recipe

     When I read the assignment prompt asking us to "Google" ourselves, I thought that on the first try I would surely get some results that pertained to me. I was quickly disappointed when I realized that even though I have made strides in developing my professional learning network (PLN), it is apparent that my work is far from done. My initial Google search was of just my name "Alexis Mendoza", this is actually a very popular name so I got a plethora of results that didn't pertain to me specifically. The image is below:

    I decided that my next Google search should be more specific and I did actually get results that were connected to me directly. The Google search terms I typed in were: "alexis mendoza blogspot educ 578."

As you can see, this blog comes up as the second result, although I did of course use a very specific string of search terms. I must admit, that I was simultaneously disappointed that my professor's twitter account came up before my actual blog! I assumed that the specific search terms would surely yield my blog as the first result, but that was not the case. Lastly, I decided to search my professional "online handle" that I have begun to develop which is "amendo6". I found that this resulted in my twitter account coming up as the second top result. I was intrigued to see that my Quizlet account was actually the first result to be yielded from the Google search.

As for my status as a resident or a visitor online, I still feel that I am developing more into a resident. I was happy to see that my blog and twitter came up as results in Google, even if they needed more specific Google search terms. I was also pleasantly surprised to see my Quizlet account came up as a result for the "amendo6" Google search. I think Quizlet is a great educational tool whether it is used by a teacher, student, tutor, and/or parent. I have personally used it to help my my niece study for history exams. I have also explored some of the stacks of flashcards already made for my own studying. I am becoming more of a resident online, but I do know that I must continue to challenge myself to travel further down the resident spectrum, rather than reverting to more of the visitor side of the spectrum. That being said, I just reminded myself to have my Tweetdeck running in the background in an effort to stay up to date on various educational topics.

Since this blog post really forced me to consider my online presence, PLN, and the concept of being a resident; I have decided to share a bit more about myself. I am culturally Mexican, with both my parents being born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico. Food and family are two very important things in my daily life, and that being said, I have decided to share my family's guacamole recipe (since I just made some). Please note that you will find no exact measurements of any kind in this recipe. The way we are taught to cook in my family is you kind of just adapt the recipe to your particular liking. So if you like more or less of something, you just adapt it. Tasting throughout the process is key!

Alexis' Family Recipe for Guacamole:

• Sliced Avocados
• Chopped Tomatoes
• Chopped Cilantro
• Chopped Onions
• Lime or Lemon Juice
• Salt & Pepper

1. First cut open the avocados, then slice them, and put them into a bowl. As you put them into the bowl, be sure to periodically squirt a little lemon/lime juice (this will keep it from getting brown and it gives the guacamole good flavor).
2. Add the chopped onion and tomatoes.
3. Add the chopped cilantro.
4. Using a spoon stir the guacamole until it becomes the desired texture.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add lemon/lime juice to taste.
Here's a picture of what my guacamole looks like, my family seemed to approve of the taste!

Reflection on Tribes by: Seth Godin

     Initially, I was a little hesitant about listening to an Audiobook. I would consider myself to be more of a visual and kinesthetic learner. Although, I have studied for standardized exams by using Itunes University audio lectures about different historical topics. What I liked the most about listening to the Audiobook version of Tribes by Seth Godin, was that the assignment asked us to tweet out quotes that resonated with us. I think that this part of the assignment gave me the opportunity to engage my preferred visual and kinesthetic learning styles. I was not only able to type out the quotes, but also see my quotes in a column I created within my Tweetdeck (see image to the left). I found this assignment to be an alternative to simply highlighting text in a traditional paper book. Also, it is nice to have the quotes all lined up for me to see, so that at the end of listening to to the Audiobook, I had my quotes in order.
     While listening to the Audiobook, I was forming my potential reflection ideas on the leadership Godin was discussing. Being able to scroll through my quotes from the Audiobook, helped me even further get my thoughts together before writing this blog post. Godin's use of the term "heretic" to describe people who basically go against the status quo and in his view, are usually the types of individuals who demonstrate "authentic leadership." Indeed, Godin even refers to how we are all called to be a heretic, or as he says "post our own 95 theses" like Martin Luther. Some of the branded "heretics" of history have now become individuals studied in history books as viewed as agents of change, ranging from figures like Martin Luther to Martin Luther King Jr. Godin's discussion of "authentic leadership" throughout the Audiobook really kept my attention. My definition of authentic leadership consists of an individual who is a "servant-leader." Indeed, much like Godin's assertion that leaders do not manage, I believe it is the task of a leader to draw out the gifts and talents that are unique to the individuals that they lead.