As I enter 2009 and approach completing a decade working as an educator, I found the preceding interview of Gladwell on Charlie Rose very important for me at this particular time. I haven’t read his new book and to be honest, I don’t plan to at this time. I’m planning on going back to finish Blink and think about the relationship between rapid cognition, meaningful work and curiosity (important culminating point at the end of the interview) and how that affects not only my work as an educator but my day to day living as well.

I first discovered Malcolm Gladwell via his talk on TED on What we can learn from spaghetti sauce.

It’s hard not to love anything on TED but this talk was particularly poignant for me at the time. I am not an artist and have never claimed to be but this talk re-affirmed for me my interest in the importance of intentionally teaching creativity (or curiosity) in schools.

It also helped support my feeling that the fact that art and visual literacy is something that is merely taught at the fringe or in an extra-curricular setting significantly hurts our students. In an attempt to help students in the area of science, math and technology, we fail to see the importance of art, creativity and visual literacy in this age. Despite our efforts and investment in science, math and technology in this country, why are our students still so significantly behind? And, more importantly, why does so much creative work seem to come from those same students from those same countries that are so significantly ahead of our students in the area of science, math and technology? It seems like these students have no problem being strong in disciplines that are both right and left brain.

Dan Pink has something to say about that.

After that talk on TED, I began reading Blink and reflected on the importance of “rapid cognition” and how it was immensely related to his talk on spaghetti sauce and how that relation was significantly relevant to teaching in a web2.0 classrooms(whatever that means since, for the most part, they really don’t exist…sticking hardware in a classroom doesn’t count…and, it may, in fact, hurt more than help).

So, again as I enter 2009 I plan to go back to finish Blink and enjoy thinking about the relationship between rapid cognition, meaningful work and curiosity and how that affects not only my work as an educator but my day to day living as well.

As I enter 2009 and approach completing a decade working as an educator, I found the preceding interview of Gladwell on Charlie Rose very important for me at this particular time. I haven’t read his new book and to be honest, I don’t plan to at this time. I’m planning on going back to finish Blink and think about the relationship between rapid cognition, meaningful work and curiosity (important culminating point at the end of the interview) and how that affects not only my work as an educator but my day to day living as well.

I first discovered Malcolm Gladwell via his talk on TED on What we can learn from spaghetti sauce.

It’s hard not to love anything on TED but this talk was particularly poignant for me at the time. I am not an artist and have never claimed to be but this talk re-affirmed for me my interest in the importance of intentionally teaching creativity (or curiosity) in schools.

It also helped support my feeling that the fact that art and visual literacy is something that is merely taught at the fringe or in an extra-curricular setting significantly hurts our students. In an attempt to help students in the area of science, math and technology, we fail to see the importance of art, creativity and visual literacy in this age. Despite our efforts and investment in science, math and technology in this country, why are our students still so significantly behind? And, more importantly, why does so much creative work seem to come from those same students from those same countries that are so significantly ahead of our students in the area of science, math and technology? It seems like these students have no problem being strong in disciplines that are both right and left brain.

Dan Pink has something to say about that.

After that talk on TED, I began reading Blink and reflected on the importance of “rapid cognition” and how it was immensely related to his talk on spaghetti sauce and how that relation was significantly relevant to teaching in a web2.0 classrooms(whatever that means since, for the most part, they really don’t exist…sticking hardware in a classroom doesn’t count…and, it may, in fact, hurt more than help).

So, again as I enter 2009 I plan to go back to finish Blink and enjoy thinking about the relationship between rapid cognition, meaningful work and curiosity and how that affects not only my work as an educator but my day to day living as well.

“no es que tenga muchas ganas, es que tengo muchas ganas de tener ganas.” -sabina

en esos mismos
pasillos

esperando estamos
todos

en pasillos
que son nada mas
que un monton
de salas de
espera

un
poco muy
largas

en un pais
que se
encuentra
solo un
poquito
mas que
pobre

y no por
primera
vez va
entrando la
abuela, el cura

y esa misma
prostituta
que siempre
si
siempre se
encuentra
a el lado
de el
carpintero
ya demasiado
y gravemente
gordo
a solo
media edad

y alli
vamos todos
por esos
mismos
pasillos
que pretenden
llevarnos al
lugar donde
solo los
desviados
llegan

y el abuelo
que le dicen
el vino tinto
llega alli
tambien

pero como
siempre solo
un poquito
tarde

a caminar
por esos
mismos
pasillos

y estar en esas
mismas
salas de espera

en ese mismo
pais que se
encuentra

solo un
poquito
mas que
pobre

estos
son pasillos
donde no solo
los desviados
sino tambien
los encontrados
pasan

porque los
supuestamente
encontrados y los
desviados vienen
siendo igual

y aunque
muchos lo saben
pocos lo dicen
pero bueno

y esos mismos
supuestamente
encontrados van
creyendo en
alguna verdad
que nos cuenta
algo de ese
mismo lugar
del mismo
desviado

que camina por
esos mismos
pasillos con esas
mismas puertas

que supuestamente
traen la salvacion

y los supuestamente
encontrados les
cuentan cuentos
a los desviados,

en
este caso,
a la abuela

y cuentan
que pronto
vendra la
salvacion

pero la abuela
no escucha
porque
esta
bailando
con su vino
tinto

y el cura y la
prostituta
hacen igual

y los
supuestamente
encontrados
siguen con sus
cuentos

y los
supuestamente
desviados
se sientan
despues de
bailar

a ver y discutir
la nueva novela
en el canal
veinte y tres
en el nuevo
television de
plasma colocado
en esos mismos
pasillos que te
llevan a esas
mismas puertas

y que esperamos
encontrar despues
de esperar en esos
mismos pasillos
que son nada mas
que salas de
espera

(fui por alli una
vez a preguntarle
a la abuela, el
vino tinto, el
carpintero
y a la
prostituta

pero estaban
demasiados
llenos de risa
y conversacion
que no quize
molesterlos)

sin saber
seguimos esperando
y un dia quizas
despues del vino
y la novela
estos mismos
pasillos
nos llevaran a
esas mismas
puertas

que ni abiertas
estan

y lo que buscamos
en esas puertas
que solo
supuestamente
abiertas estan
no se sabe

pero si
sabe
que los
que se
consideran
encontrados
quizas mas
desviados
estan

predicando el
mismo mensaje
con sus
supuestamente
verdades

y ellos
tambien
siguen
igual

con la
abuela, el vino
tinto y la
prostituta

buscando
y esperando
puertas
que solo
supuestamente
abiertas estan
y nada mas

y asi con ellos
quedamos todos.

con esos mismos
desviados
que se consideran
encontrados

con la abuela,
el vino tinto
y la prostituta

y que no se
olvide tambien
el carpintero

todos, si
todos

quedamos
esperando
por pasillos
que nos llevan
a puertas que
solo supuestamente
abiertas estan.

y nada mas.

-luna