Education is wasted on the young

My friend John Dyer sent me the link to this interesting site: The Spirit of the New Humanities: A Brief Introduction by Richard E. Miller, <http://www.newhum.com/>. This take on the "humanities" is in contrast to what I remember taking in high school and college. Miller's book/course uses contemporary non-fiction narratives to help student think about modern problems and their complexity. It seems "practical."

In humanities classes I remember, we chronologically studied "art" - literature, fine art, music and architecture - to more or less delve into the really big themes like man's relationship to God and stuff like that. Puzzling over "the human condition" as portried in classical art forms was the goal, not solving less abstract issues like global warming and poverty.

Roman ruins at Jerash, Jordan, November 2008. Doric, Corinthian or Ionic?

Personally, I like Miller's contemporary approach to humanities for one simple reason. Based solely on my own experience, traditional humanities instruction is wasted on the young.

From the humanities classes I've taken, I think I can still remember the difference between Ionic, Corinthian and Doric columns and that's about it. In fact most of what I remember from all my high school and college classes would probably take me less than a couple hours to write down. Now I am awfully glad I was taught to read, write and solve math problems (through geometry anyway). I appreciate that I was taught some basics of science and government and public speaking. But way too much information simply went way over my head. I didn't have any life experiences to which I could relate artists' commentary.

Now I am all in favor of using Shakespeare and Brugel and Dvorak and Chartres Cathedral to explore "the human condition." But let's wait until the learner is, say, 45 or so. A few life experiences - like having a bad boss - might help one understand what Dante was getting at when designing the Inferno. At a younger age, practiality ought to be rule.

I hate to see education wasted on the young.

What makes a good teacher? and...

Sunrise on the Mayan Coast near Xcalak, Mexico

I am having a tough time getting my mind back to work after it's had a dozen days away. (Why don't they give us Swedes coffee breaks? It takes to long to retrain us.)

This is the first time I can remember feeling that I needed just a couple more days vacation before getting back in the saddle. I am blaming my malaise on upcoming budget cuts, icy roads, sub-zero temps and just having had a really relaxing time in Mexico where I spent less than 20 minutes a day online and sent only 2 e-mails during entire week. And didn't wear a sweater even once. Paradisio...

A few odds and ends...

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The best reason for putting a Creative Commons license on one's work is to see the terrific transformative pieces that derive from it - much that is better than the original. I loved how Mr. McGuire tweaked my post, What Makes a Good Boss into What Makes a Good Teacher. Some interesting parallels.

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I don't think this violates the Blue Skunk Endorsement Policy...

Hi Doug,

... I am working on a community service project @ MIT university. We want to get kids to make videos about SAT vocabulary and create a free and more fun way to prep for the big test. You can view some sample videos at the website we're using http://www.BrainyFlix.com.

To encourage participation, we are going to run a contest and give out a small cash prize to the video that receives the most number of votes from viewers. We'll start accepting video submissions on January 1, 2009.

I was wondering if you would be willing to write a short post about our charity event. The more videos we receive, the more helpful we think we can be! We'd be especially excited to get more representation from Minnesota.

Please let me know. If you have any hangups about doing so, I'd love the chance to address them. I can be reached at jack.yu.is (at) gmail.com.

Thank you and have a happy new year!

Jack

Looks like a simple and worthwhile project.

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Jeffrey Cole of the University of Southern California Annenberg School’s Center for the Digital Future found in a 2007 survey that young people 12 to 25 will “never read a newspaper.” Never. from BuzzMachine

Of the LWW's and my four children, only one - the 35-year-old - subscribes to a daily newspaper. And one child is even married to a newpaper editor. How can one start the day without a cup of coffee and newsprint? The LCD display is just NOT the same...

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My 7-year-old grandson Paul is a reader. He pretty much finished an entire Goosebumps novel (Monster Blood for Breakfast, a sensitive memoir of nutrition and the role it plays in personality development, I believe) on Saturday, between swimming, movies and McDonalds stops.

He was about to start his second novel of the day when he discovered Grandpa's iPod had the Spore and CroMag Rally games on it. Pffftttt - reading moved to the back burner. A number of things really surprised me about Paul, technology, and his gaming:

• He remembered my four number iPod password from last Thanksgiving.
• He got my spore Bob through three levels in about 15 minutes, including one that I'd spent the last month working on.
• He was highly articulate about how he made choices in the games he played. He very thoughtfully and patiently explained to Grandpa the logic behind his conclusions. Metacognition of inductive/deductive learning, I believe the professors would call that... And yes, skillful game playing requires intelligence.
• He was a good sport when I whooped him at the board game Sorry which primarily relies on dumb luck.

Comparing me with my grandson ought to be as much proof as anyone needs of evolution.

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Back to more serious matters in future posts.

Remind me again why anyone lives in a cold, cold part of the world.

Never moon a werewolf

An entire weekend at home with no articles to write, columns to prepare or workshops to tweak. After a very hectic October and early November of travel and work, it's nice to veg. Well, sort of veg. Some random thoughts...

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The holiday catalogs are starting to arrive, and I am stealing from their offerings to add to my t-shirt slogan list. Some new ones:

• I'm currently away from desk.
• Of course I live in the past. It's cheaper there.
• Never moon a werewolf.
• Chemistry is just like cooking. Just don't lick the spoon.
• Paddle faster! I hear banjo music.
• Say NO to negative thinking.
• At my age I don't even buy green bananas.
• To err is human. To arrrr is pirate.
• Ask me about my vow of silence.
• I cannot resist the primal, demon rhythm of the polka.
• I used to be a millionaire. Then Mom threw away my baseball card collection.
• Being vague is as annoying as that other thing.
• I'm so far behind, I thought I was first!
• At what age am I old enough to know better?
• And my favorite:

signals.com

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I am always pleased when I get a suggestion for improving one of my workshops or presentation techniques. I got two good ones during the ISLMA conference this week.

At the beginning of most of my workshops, I advise people that they don't need to take notes since most of the material in the session is also in the online handouts. After a workshop last Thursday, a very nice lady came up afterwards and suggested that I give people "permission" to take notes. She says doing so helps her process and retain the information better. I sometimes forget the power of permission we "experts" exert.

Another thoughtful suggestion was that when I cite a graphic in my slides with a URL, that I run the address vertically rather than horizontally. "It's less distracting," the participant suggested. Good idea.

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This January for the first time, I will have a president who is younger than I am. I suspect as good a reason as any to do one's best as an educator is that eventually your dentist, your banker, your oncologist, your plumber, your grandchildren's teachers, and your president will all have once been your generation's students. If they are incompetent, you have no one but yourself to blame.

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I greatly enjoyed a recent post by Rob Rubis on his Edging Ahead blog. In it he asks:

So have our lives changed in fundamental, core ways [because of the Internet]? Do I interact, on a day-to-day, moment-by-moment basis with my family, friends and professional colleagues, in a way that is fundamentally different than I did before 1995? Are my daily life routines (getting up at 4:50 am, working from 7:00 - 4:00, spending from 6:00 - 9:00 with family, and awaiting “weekends away” from work) different in core ways from what they were “before”? Has the business of meeting work commitments, fulfilling family obligations and achieving personal goals changed become fundamentally different from what it was?

While I am still chewing on Rob's question, I believe that blogging has changed the way I look at the world. I often read, observe and reflect with an eye on a thing's "blog-worthiness" just as Seinfield's Elaine always vetted men on their "sponge-worthiness." Being a better "noticer" is not a bad thing.

Oh, my initial reaction to Rob's question was thinking about about the old cartoon that asked, 'What did we do to look busy before there were computers?" Indeed.

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This weekend's cold nasty weather makes it a good time to cook stew. Since it takes about 3 hours to cook, I only make this favorite recipe on the weekends. Give it a try. The paprika gives it a little zing and the rutabaga a little sweetness. And it's so good for you.

Two Harbors (MN) Beef Stew

Serves 8

Beef mixture
2 pounds beef round, cut in 1" cubes
1/4 c flour
3 T oil or margarine
2 c hot water
2 t instant beef boullion
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
1 clove garlic, diced
2 t paprika
1 t sugar
1/2 t black pepper
1/8 t allspice
2 bay leaves

Vegetables
4 medium carrots cut into chunks
3 medium tomatoes (I use a big can of whole tomatoes)
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/3 in chunks
1 green pepper cut into thin strips
1 16 oz can small white potatoes, drained

In Dutch oven, heat oil or margarine over medium-high heat. Place flour in paper bag; shake beef cubes in flour to coat. Brown floured beef cubes. Add remaining beef mixture ingredients. Simmer over low heat 1 1/2 hours. Add all vegetables except potatoes. Simmer 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add potatoes and cook until heath through, about 15 minutes.

Be advised that if you want a true Minnesota culinary experience, you'll need to add a can of Cream of Mushroom soup to the mix. And maybe sprinkle some crushed potato chips on top. But live dangerously and try it as it's written at least once...