The Big Idea – Training and Mentoring
How do you effectively teach, train, instruct, demonstrate, or even mentor? The Big Idea: Train, Instruct, Demonstrate, Mentor, and effectively succeed in doing so. It’s as hard as you make it, or as easy as you make it. There are a lot of examples in History, Mathematics, and Science (including technology) regarding training methods. I have run into my own mental blocks and some deep-seated misconceptions along the way, trying to learn the proper methods. Studying how people learn can and will be challenging. Pedagogical content knowledge & Effective teaching. A little description might help. Nothing too technical, just bits and pieces to pull it together. It’s good to understand…
The Big Idea #2 In essence individual learners have a learning zone
The Big Idea #2 How do children learn? How do children learn? That is one of the most important questions of a lifetime. It means having the ability and the skill to guide a society toward a better future. My hopes are that STEM courses Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics will provide the next generation with cutting edge thinking. Common sense! Directing our youth and young adults toward STEM is paramount to our society. Children’s Knowledge and the Brain Learning zones. A little bit of old school, and a little bit of new. In essence individual learners have a learning “zone” (Vygotsky, 1978). The zone of proximal development, demonstrates that…
The Big Idea #1 Get started and get it over with
Ever wish you didn’t have to study? Get over it. Self-scrutinizing my priorities and goals at a younger point in my life, and observing how they have shifted or remained steadfast, was at times unsettling. What things provided me with crossroads to keep moving, learning, and growing? There is actually a term for this: it’s called the Serial Position Curve. While serial position curves aren’t necessarily one of the big ideas that I will take away from my life’s journey thus far, it is worth mentioning. Basically, because it provided a bit of an ‘intersection’; and I began to look for other intersections to stay on course. Each of us,…
Winds of Change
Winds of Change Time changes everything, and we need to be able to re-evaluate our own lives and the direction we are headed in. It doesn’t matter if the direction is one we have selected for ourselves, or one where life itself has lead us there unaware. Sometimes those things that we thought mattered most, are not important any longer. Rather, things that we overlooked or have forgotten from the past come closer to our new reality. Change is an emotional experience that reminds us that nothing is permanent. It teaches us to prioritize those things that are really important. Change can mean loss, but it can also mean gaining…
Bilateral Music Stimulation – A Thousand Years
How do you deal with stress? What stresses you out? Do cognitive memories get in the way of you finding that calm place in life? Ever heard of Bilateral music stimulation? I have been wanting to do a little experimental discovery with Bilateral Music Stimulation. Since I have a number of friends & associations who currently suffer from a form of either ADHD, PTSD, depression, vertigo, and/or similar cognitive traits – it was time. Most have often noted that certain types of music or instrumental sounds helped them to relax. I’m no therapist, but I have an equal stake in learning what they were using as a calming method. My…
