The name of our blog seems more appropriate than ever. I just finished the book Brain Rules by John Medina (whilch I highly recommend). The last chapter, Exploration, underscores the importance of lifelong learning. And you thought we were just having fun here on this blog. (Dr. William Glasser, by the way, contends that you must have fun to learn!) Anyway, check out one of the Brain Rules websites, and you will notice that each chapter is summarized in a fun video clip.
Anyway, our credit assignment for the district is to blog on each chapter. I offer my blog entry (via cut & paste) that I just left on this last chapter:
I agree with those of you who observed that this last chapter is a fitting end for the book. In detailing a baby’s exploration of the world, Medina has once again (perhaps without intention) highlighted the limitations of a lecture-style classroom to promote learning.
The information in this chapter is a strong argument for inquiry-based education and truly highlights the importance of “lifelong learning”. What has become a catch phrase for education (previously defined in my mind as taking an occasional university class) now seems to be a more urgent survival skill. If I am going to lose synaptic connections totaling an everage of 30,000 neurons a day, I am more motivated than ever to create as many new neurons as possible, something Medina assures us the adult brain is still able to do. I want to be like the 70+ year old researchers, Krebs and Fischer, still creative, walking down the hall, oblivious to others as they chat about their new research findings.
1 comment:
I read somewhere that boxed wine creates neuron too....I think me and boan are getting smarter everyday?
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