Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Now I know why I have a basket of chocolate in my office...come see me...it's healthy!

A small bar of dark chocolate every day can help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. Chocolate also has serotonin which acts as an antidepressant.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Creativity Crisis (I'm not surprised)

This just validates what I thought was happening...
"For the first time, research shows that American creativity is declining."
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.print.html

"A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 “leadership competency” of the future. Yet it’s not just about sustaining our nation’s economic growth. All around us are matters of national and international importance that are crying out for creative solutions, from saving the Gulf of Mexico to bringing peace to Afghanistan to delivering health care. Such solutions emerge from a healthy marketplace of ideas, sustained by a populace constantly contributing original ideas and receptive to the ideas of others."

"It’s too early to determine conclusively why U.S. creativity scores are declining. One likely culprit is the number of hours kids now spend in front of the TV and playing videogames rather than engaging in creative activities. Another is the lack of creativity development in our schools. In effect, it’s left to the luck of the draw who becomes creative: there’s no concerted effort to nurture the creativity of all children."

Friday, July 9, 2010

My Exploration with VoiceThread

Parents, I'm liking this "Summer Rant"

According to "weblogg-ed.com"
http://weblogg-ed.com/2010/a-summer-rant-whats-up-with-parents/
Bring some imaginary sets (or onesies) of parents into a room and ask them these questions. What kind of responses do you think you’d get?


Do you want your kids to be problem solvers?
Do you want them to be able to work constructively with others to create useful stuff?
Do you want the things they create to contribute to the community?
Do you want your kids to be able to distinguish between relevant, truthful information and the alternative?
Do you want your kids to be creative, imaginative and curious?
Do you want your kids to work on their own, to self-direct their own learning?
Do you want your children to use technology to learn and create?
Do you want your kids to be passionate about learning?
Do you want your kids to be engaged in school?
Do you want your students to learn from/with different cultures?
Do you want them to be independent?
(Add your own here.)

"If we really believe in the value of all that problem solving, collaboration, self-direction, passion stuff, and we take an honest look at what the current system values by what it assesses, it’s hard not to see the gap."