Questions in a runic rhyme

So, what is it? We ask as we attempt to comprehend the latest artwork from our wee ones. Can't you tell? They say, "its obviously a...."

Questions...always questions...

Are we there yet? When do we eat? What's the meaning of life? What are we having for dinner? What's six times seven?

I used to say that the entire scope of interest for a sixth grade boy could be boiled down to just three questions: 1. Will it explode? (or when will it exlode?), 2. How much did it cost? (or how much will it cost if I broke it?), and 3. What would happen if I ate it? (self explanatory or what if it ate me?)

So, what role do questions play in our lives and what role should they have? Another...age old question...

As a fan of Douglas Adams...it seems natural to start by seeking to find the "ultimate question"...however, Mr. Adams himself seems never to have actually been able to define "it", so once again, this question about a question too must go unanswered. However, an examination of Douglas Adams' answer to the ultimate question: "42" may provide some insight into why questions are so integral to learning for us human types. I think that the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy might provide the ultimate "answer", but to give both the ultimate question and answer at one time would just negate the necessity of purchasing the guide, so Mr. Adams may be illustrating that it just may not possible to contain both ultimates within one universe...However, Douglas' real (quite clever) idea may in fact be to point out that asking questions and seeking or even finding answers are not really the same and should be treated separately. Even he points out in his books that many philosophers are good at asking questions, but don't really know or even expect to know the answers themselves. Indeed Socrates touted himself as one who was good at asking the right questions, but not the expert who could really answer any of them. So, do questions and answers have to go together to have a context and make the "Yin/Yang" of the inquiry process? Insert your answer here: _____? Smile

If we don't get the answers we want, do we say that we've asked the wrong question or a bad question? What, is the difference? Similarly, is a good question necessarily the "right" question or is it merely one that gives us a warm and fuzzy feeling at the time? What is my point...

Questioning, is an art.

It is a technique that requires both skill and practice as well as a certain twinkle of a spark to ignite just the right stuff in those willing to twist their minds through the maze of possibilities. By seeking to expand our knowledge, we often turn expectantly to someone or something and ask: can you make me wiser/more knowledgeable/more capable. Through our questions, we seek to be better than we are currently, to improve our condition, to continue to survive, or to become closer to something greater than ourselves. Yet, all are connected.

Questioning is an admission of our imperfections and ignorances. A continual reminder of our lowly place in the universe of knowledge, but also an expression of our desire to pull ourselves up from the genetic informationally deficient quagmire to a slightly richer one...where, perhaps we can be a bit more than we were previously. Questioning is the red carpeted highway to stardom. Our "ticket" to a better life...or is it?

Are all questions created equal? No. AND Yes. The ability to ask a relevant question assumes at least a minimal common frame of reference, yet still these "irrelevant" questions continue to pop up, float out on the air and some may even get answered...so what does this mean?

It means people are different. It means questions are different. It means the universe may only tolerate this amount of chaos known as "life" only due to the ability of our "sentient" selves to continually seek a new question to ask about the universe itself. Through the stimulation of each and every tendril of inquiry as often as possible, we may, as Stephen J. Gould once theorized, create a "full house" of options to explore. Questioning may be no different than its originator in this. Life created questions. The universe created life (well in one interpretation), so does the universe want to know more about itself? Maybe the answer really is "42"...

Do I actually expect answers to all of the questions above? No.

Do I find myself enriched due to the asking. Yes.

The point: An open-ended question allows for exploration of imaginative and at times infinite possibilities. A closed question does not, unless it leads to another question.

Wisdom comes from knowing that it is not through thinking that we may know all of the answers to our human questions, but instead by knowing that we don't even know all of the questions to ask, and are not ever likely to know all of them, ever.

What is it?

It is a good question, and thank you for asking.

I may not know, but now my world is a bit larger and better because of your question.

There's an awfully large universe out there, plenty of room for more.

Keep 'em coming.

Tim

The Will to Learn

How, do we learn best?

To instill a will to learn, nature provides us all with inherent incentives...needs for our own survival that require our particular species to process information and utilize it to continue our own existence.

Yet, this process is imperfect. We sometimes learn things that we don't really need to know to survive. We also forget important information that may be crucial to us. Some ideas and concepts seem easy to grasp, while others take enormous effort or at least monumental cognitive processing in order to master. The first step to any learning may be the realization that our own personal experience is incomplete. This realization only comes through observation of our environment and surroundings. A set of extrinsic sensual experiences triggers some type of need that leads to exploration. In other words, how can we know that we need to learn unless we have observed that it may be necessary or interesting for us to do so?

So, this external "stimulus", leads to internal processing which then leads to another need to either explore or interact with the external environment again. By doing so, we seem to either elicit a gathering of new information, an expected response, or an unexpected result. Essentially, we have seen a path that appears interesting, it has stimulated our curiousity and now we must explore it! What will we experience on this path? What might lie at the end of it? Will it be something new or interesting? Our imagination is engaged and now we heighten our senses to insure that we gather as much information as we can about this experience. It drives us on in the path. We find a need or a will of our own that presses us to overcome the obstacles or challenges necessary to accumulate these new experiences. Essentially we have an existential NEED to learn what may come next.

This need to learn is perhaps heightened by the LACK of experience. Children often seem insatiable in their questioning and need to learn more, but adults may not be such enthusiastic questioners. For, as we age and accumulate more experiences, our will to learn may even fade a bit. We grow "jaded" or "tired" of pushing ourselves only to find the same or quite similar experiences along the way. This may then explain the very common human interest in novelty. Why do we travel? Why do we shop? Why do we constantly seem to seek out that "perfect" cup of coffee? or why do we "rubberneck" the latest auto accident on the highway? Do we crave novelty so much due to our interest in learning something new or is it because it provides a basis for the generation of new questions? Once we reach the end of the path...we see a beautiful lake. Do we ask what's in the lake or do we turn around thinking its just "another lake" like all of the others we've experienced? Does open-mindedness and a willingness to ask questions color our experience so much that it may not just deny opportunities through our actions, but actually interfere with them? (Political arguments about conservatives vs. liberals excepted...) To insure our own existence, might it be necessary to continue to cultivate this "will to learn"? (the subject of another post...probably later.)

Questioning may be the key, for as we train ourselves to continuously ask questions, we provide ourselves with more opportunities to learn. This process occurs in many formats: in

groups or in solitude, listen or watching, discussing or interacting, doing or sensual perceiving. A stream of input experiences feeds the human brain in a variety of ways throughout our life. (Whether we have TOO much input is again, a subject for another post...OVERSTIMULATION...) However, we all have our individual preferences for input and questioning. Personal combinations of learning styles, interface modes, interactive processing needs, and intra-active personal reflective processing needs shape our interest, perception, and need to question. Ultimately, this means that a "good" teacher should address as many of these input strategies as possible to insure that the will to learn remains high for all.

How do we keep our will to learn? By chasing rainbows, reaching for the outer edges, pushing ourselves past the comfort zone, and ultimately, by asking questions and seeking the answers, not because they are "assigned", but because they provide some new interest or insight that will enhance and enrich each others existence.

I don't actually recall, but I think it was Ben Franklin who said to "try something new every day. "

In any event, I would not only agree, but also say to ask a probing question about it too.

Tim

"Even if the universe is infinite, we must expand our minds and attempt to fill the void."

Creative Teaching

I have been pondering the place of Creative Teaching in education. Here are a few thoughts...

Creative teaching is…

A creative teacher puts on costumes
A creative teacher tries something new as often as possible
A creative teacher connects strange things together
A creative teacher tells jokes that are sometimes funny
A creative teacher laughs at unusual things
A creative teacher knows at least one thing that nobody else does
A creative teacher does not always try to be perfect (does not always know the answer)
A creative teacher wears many hats
A creative teacher collects student's weird ideas and shares them with the class
A creative teacher juggles
A creative teacher does not always know where he/she is going
A creative teacher is a good scrounger of "stuff"
A creative teacher asks open-ended or unanswered questions
A creative teacher sometimes trips or slips
A creative teacher is slightly bent
A creative teacher is just a little crazy
A creative teacher likes square pegs
A creative teacher believes in potential

So, what is creative teaching? It is a sense of knowing that only through a wondrous variety of educational opportunities will students maximize their learning. Being creative is very important for teaching in that all learners have different needs and backgrounds. A creative teacher of gifted students is no different, other than insuring that the creative opportunities provide appropriate challenge to the variety of gifts that each student may possess.

Pushing one slightly beyond the comfort level is often tantamount to the first step in the learning process. As the little birds are nudged farther out from the nest, they realize more about the world and their place in it. However, this process must be carefully monitored or some birds may get injured or fall prey to dangerous predators. Similarly, the creative teacher can provide many paths out from the comfort zone and still help students to choose those that will serve them best. As student confidence and learning styles increase, they will be more capable of accepting creative challenges and may even demand them in greater quantity from their teachers. By offering a wider variety of challenges and opportunities, a creative teacher may often be preparing students in more effective methods for what they could face in the future. Most all teachers want students to "fly" on their own, so the diversity of small previous moves makes the flight that more comfortable and joyous in the end.

However, creativity is difficult. It requires great knowledge, time, sacrifice, and often does not work as well as intended. The risk in being creative when teaching is great, but the risk in not being creative may be even greater. Creativity requires bravery and dedication. It also asks all of those involved to contribute their best. Humans seem to be both naturally creative and naturally averse to some types of new experience. Preservation instinct and social comfort may combine to make some less interested in creative ventures, however, the truly wise can see the intrinsic value inherent in creativity for the greater good of all.

So, who is the creative teacher?…A creative teacher is a person whose vision extends beyond the extraordinary.

Smiles, Tim

1st blog

This is my blog for Gifted Instruction Class Reflections/Log on readings.

I will be posting my reflections and ideas about Gifted Strategies and Instruction here frequently.

Enjoy.

Tim