Beliefs
I teach at a charter school which has recently adopted three core beliefs: [1] success breeds success, [2] all students can and deserve to perform at high levels, [3] the staff controls the conditions of success. Over the years of “sharing” these convictions, I have become well-acquainted with the limited impact that these written beliefs have on actual behavior. Despite these core beliefs, I have also repeatedly observed the tendency to assign the blame for the poor performance of students to a lack of motivation. The difficulty is that both beliefs are true. People can enter into a spiral of success or failure, and motivation often is the driving force.
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is basic to the human condition, though people often become less intrinsically motivated as they age (due to external social factors). For example, my ten-month-old spends hours everyday practicing her basic motor skills: she picks up and throws toys, she climbs on anything possible, and she walks even though crawling is still much faster. Presumably, she does all this for the shear joy of the task, and not out of the hope for future gains. This image stands in stark contrast to some of my students, who always inquire whether a particular skill or definition will show up on the test, and what they can do to raise their grade in class.
12.21.2011
12.07.2011
Stories and Societies
Reflection Theory
Imagine an anthropologist attempting to understand the lifestyle of the ancient Babylonians. She might begin by digging up artifacts at an excavation site, and drawing conclusions from what is found. The clay pot suggests that they cooked in ovens, and the drawings on it suggests a culture that values the arts. Now imagine that she found a book of Babylonian myths that were translatable. She reads these stories with interest, feeling like she is getting a first hand glimpse into the lifestyle of the ancients.
If we accept her ability to read a story to better understand a society, then we accept reflection theory. This theory postulates that literature reflects the society that birthed it.
Imagine an anthropologist attempting to understand the lifestyle of the ancient Babylonians. She might begin by digging up artifacts at an excavation site, and drawing conclusions from what is found. The clay pot suggests that they cooked in ovens, and the drawings on it suggests a culture that values the arts. Now imagine that she found a book of Babylonian myths that were translatable. She reads these stories with interest, feeling like she is getting a first hand glimpse into the lifestyle of the ancients.
If we accept her ability to read a story to better understand a society, then we accept reflection theory. This theory postulates that literature reflects the society that birthed it.
12.04.2011
Short-Circuiting the Brain
Emotions move us. What happens when we feel them strongly? Do we just move quicker?
Jonathan Haidt, a psychology professor at University of Virginia, researched the emotion that is the opposite of disgust (which causes us to withdraw and is usually caused by things associated with blood or poo). He came to term the emotion "elevation", which is the goose-bumps we get when we observe or participate in a great moral act. One thing I found intriguing was that when this emotion is most intense it can temporarily disable the part of the brain that monitors our physical boundaries (where our bits and pieces are in space), which causes the person to lose their sense of self and feel as if they have been absorbed into humanity and are intimately connected to all of mankind. Let's call this state ONENESS and define it as an intense feeling of elevation that causes us to lose our sense of self (and time?) so that we can become completely involved with humanity.
Jonathan Haidt, a psychology professor at University of Virginia, researched the emotion that is the opposite of disgust (which causes us to withdraw and is usually caused by things associated with blood or poo). He came to term the emotion "elevation", which is the goose-bumps we get when we observe or participate in a great moral act. One thing I found intriguing was that when this emotion is most intense it can temporarily disable the part of the brain that monitors our physical boundaries (where our bits and pieces are in space), which causes the person to lose their sense of self and feel as if they have been absorbed into humanity and are intimately connected to all of mankind. Let's call this state ONENESS and define it as an intense feeling of elevation that causes us to lose our sense of self (and time?) so that we can become completely involved with humanity.
12.01.2011
Learning and Emotion
Interest is an emotion. I don't think people tend to think of it as such. We say "such and such" is interesting, as if interest is something inherent to that thing. But some people find that thing interesting, others find it boring, some find it infuriating, others saddening. Whatever the case, that thing is sparking an emotion, and our emotions move us. Sadness moves you to change your environment, anger moves you to attack, boredom moves you to find an alternate activity, and interest moves you to explore.
11.21.2011
The Parable of the Lofty Goals
There once was a girl who set herself a lofty goal: she would get all A’s or B’s on her next report card. She made an effort to pay more attention in class and to set aside more time for both homework and studying. For a time, her plan to attain the goal proved successful and she felt excited to be making progress in her academics; however, old habits die hard, and the girl soon found that she had multiple missed assignments with several projects due soon which she had been putting off. With the due date for a project fast approaching, the girl felt overwhelmed, and decided that desperate times call for desperate measures. She typed a phrase into a search engine and found some things that more or less fit the requirements for her project. She wrote down what she found (making sure to change a few words here and there), put her name on the paper, and turned it in to her teacher.
11.20.2011
Willpower
Willpower and the Brain
Our Prefrontal Cortex houses our Executive Functions, which essentially allow us to manage our behavior. The Anterior Cingulate Cortex is a part of this system - it is sometimes known as our conflict-monitoring system or reward-anticipation system. The ACC monitors our intentions and helps to inhibit behaviors that contradict them. You might say that it is where our willpower is located.
Your brain needs neurotransmitters to think. These are the electrical signals that jump from synapse to synapse. Your body creates neurotransmitters from the glucose stores in your blood. You get glucose from the calories you consume. Glucose is also necessary for a host of other bodily functions besides just thinking. When your glucose levels get too high or too low (watch out diabetics and hypoglycemics) your body must prioritize its glucose supplies. Typically it feeds essential automatic bodily functions first, then gives some to the parts of your brain that handle emotions (probably to make you more likely to go find something to eat), and then to other thought processes - like your executive functions. This means that when your glucose levels are down you feel heightened emotions and have less ability to regulate them. When your glucose levels are optimal your brain is good shape for producing willpower.
Our Prefrontal Cortex houses our Executive Functions, which essentially allow us to manage our behavior. The Anterior Cingulate Cortex is a part of this system - it is sometimes known as our conflict-monitoring system or reward-anticipation system. The ACC monitors our intentions and helps to inhibit behaviors that contradict them. You might say that it is where our willpower is located.
Your brain needs neurotransmitters to think. These are the electrical signals that jump from synapse to synapse. Your body creates neurotransmitters from the glucose stores in your blood. You get glucose from the calories you consume. Glucose is also necessary for a host of other bodily functions besides just thinking. When your glucose levels get too high or too low (watch out diabetics and hypoglycemics) your body must prioritize its glucose supplies. Typically it feeds essential automatic bodily functions first, then gives some to the parts of your brain that handle emotions (probably to make you more likely to go find something to eat), and then to other thought processes - like your executive functions. This means that when your glucose levels are down you feel heightened emotions and have less ability to regulate them. When your glucose levels are optimal your brain is good shape for producing willpower.
11.17.2011
Reflection: On Meditation
One of my favorite bible verses is: "Be still and know that I AM God." When I was a teenager, I used to carry a business card sized picture with the above Psalm written across a serene garden.
Lucid Dreaming
When my family first got dial-up internet connection, I would spend time just surfing the net and reading things that caught my fancy. One day I encountered a site about Lucid Dreaming. The idea of consciously taking control of a dream would probably appeal to most teenagers, but I have a mind that wants to know both why and how. Lucid Dreaming is a discipline in mindfulness: stopping during the day and considering your surroundings and running through scripts to ensure you are awake. If you make a habit of these practices, eventually your dream self will do it too, and chances are you'll realize that you're dreaming. It's a discipline and takes will-power. I have yet to be successful in inducing my own lucid dreams, but discovering the practice was my first step in appreciating silence.
Lucid Dreaming
When my family first got dial-up internet connection, I would spend time just surfing the net and reading things that caught my fancy. One day I encountered a site about Lucid Dreaming. The idea of consciously taking control of a dream would probably appeal to most teenagers, but I have a mind that wants to know both why and how. Lucid Dreaming is a discipline in mindfulness: stopping during the day and considering your surroundings and running through scripts to ensure you are awake. If you make a habit of these practices, eventually your dream self will do it too, and chances are you'll realize that you're dreaming. It's a discipline and takes will-power. I have yet to be successful in inducing my own lucid dreams, but discovering the practice was my first step in appreciating silence.
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