Week 1 Post 4 - Free Write - Reading Chapter 3

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I read the chapters of the book, a few days back and to be honest I usually remember the material that is assigned for a short amount of time. That did not happen with the material from this week. Like an annoying bug flying near your ear it keeps popping into mind and causing me to reflect on the message. The chapter that keeps coming into my head over and over is Chapter Three, Giving Yourself an A.
The Zandars’ begin the chapter by talking about how they figured a way to give the students in a class a guaranteed A in exchange for taking risks and writing a letter at the end. The idea being that if students are encouraged to give up the pursuit of measurement thinking, as discussed in the previous chapter, then they are more inclined to take risks in their education. I have done something similar for years. It tell my students that they start with an A everyday, and by doing these simple things, they will keep it. I also compliment them whenever possible and pick my fights very carefully. In doing so I “put money in the bank.” This is similar to giving them an A concept in that the students know that I will not come down on them, give them a bad grade or be against them unless they really mess up and they deserve it; at which point I make a withdrawal from the bank.
This is not the point that keeps haunting me though. It is the idea of giving myself an A. I am very willing to students, friends and loved ones an A everyday, but I rarely give myself one. I am usually caught up in measurement thinking and redouble my efforts and make that extra phone call, and write a little later than planed. All of this is an effort to think I have earned the A. The truth is that I have a good life; I have wonderful friends (especially in this program), I am good at my job and am respected by my students and colleagues and I am writing this on my patio where it is sunny and warm. Sorry east coast friends, I am not trying to rub it in. I am just asking myself the essential question of why won’t I give myself an A. I will keep asking until I do.

Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2000). The art of possibility (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Week 1 Post 3 - Response to Tanya Doll

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Post by Tanya Doll
Week 1 Choice...Gender Differences
There are a number of gender differences to consider. Different parts of the brain function differently between the sexes and therefore impact men and women differently. For example, the cerebellum contains neurons that connect to other parts of the brain and spinal cord and facilitate movement, balance and speech. There is a much stronger connecting pathway in the female brain between the brain parts therefore females have superior language and fine-motor skills while males tend to be less intuitive. another example of gender differences is in the cerebrum. The cerebrum is the upper or main part of the brain controlling conscious and voluntary processes. Females use more volume than males therefore resulting in females being greater at multitasking. Lastly, neurotransmitters which are biochemical substances that transmit nerve impulses at the synapses clearly affect differences in how males and females brains process data.

Given these biological brain differences one could assume that learning differences will occur between the genders. With Females being more verbal and males more spatial, a need to consider how to train the combined genders so effective learning can take place is imperative. Most studies have shown that there is little differences in how men and women learn yet there is still many other studies that can show marked differences in the brain and behavior that contribute to the differences in how the learning takes place within the brain.

If females tend to better at verbal abilities and rely heavily on verbal communication then the need for web 2.0 communication technologies is imperative to the communication necessary for learning to take place. Whereas males tend to be heavily right brained and show better spatial abilities such as measuring, mechanical design and geography. These spatial cues can be brought forward to the learning table to allow the male learner the opportunity to learn successfully.

My Response:
It is very interesting to read about how the brains of men and women are wired differently and therefore, causes them to learn and understand differently. It adds another wrinkle (pun intentional) to the ideas of Brain Based Learning and Multiple Intelligences. As we have learned in our courses, people have many different styles of learning and may prefer one area of the brain to another. This fact has added great responsibility to educators to make sure that their lessons suited these learning styles. Now add to this the gender difference and you can see why many educators get frustrated at trying to teach. I think you are on the right track to solve this by incorporating technology into the classes that is based on your research for gender learning abilities. It also seems clear to me that this is why there needs to be a greater emphasis on getting more educators to use a constructivist approach to learning. In doing so, there is a greater chance to use multiple sources or ways to gain the needed knowledge. Also if the learning is more student-centered the more intuitive women will naturally gravitate to the sources that allow them the best understanding. It does make me wonder though, as to whether the differences between males and females are going to increase of decrease over the next few years. As we have also been told in our courses, technology is re-wiring the brains of today’s students. They perceive communication, literacy and other forms of daily life very differently than of just a few generations ago. Will this change in the brain add to the difference in how we learn, or will it allow us to view the information we need in so many styles that we will be sure to find the data we are looking for? I hope it is the latter. Good luck with your project, it sounds very interesting.

Week 1 Post 2 - Project

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Getting my project proposal could have come at a more critical moment for me. My thesis is on the resistance of using social networks in schools due to the fear that people carry about the possibilities, rather than realities, that the Internet can carry. My solution is a net-based Digital Citizenship course that would show that the world of social networking has power and is a positive medium for students, parents and teachers alike. I say that the project proposal came at an opportune time because several students of mine believe that just because they have it a few settings on their home page, there is no risk of anything that they say or do on social network sites coming back at them. They also do not understand how something posted in their own home is fair game for employers, schools and law enforcement to potentially use against them.
Since I started even considering this area for my thesis I have run into roadblock after roadblock. Parents have been hesitant to allow social networking to be taught due to the fears that come from the occasional story in the news. Administration has been hesitant due to the fear of legal action. The consequence is what we see mentioned previously, students with no knowledge of what is right or wrong, safe or dangerous when using the Internet. This is about educating young people; it is not about dictating morality. It is about showing them how networks operate, not scaring them into behavior. It is about extending the concept of citizenship with all of its rights and responsibilities into the digital realm.

Wk 1 Post 1 - Reading Chapter 2

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Let me first say that I don’t care for the term measurement when it comes to people. To me a measure is a basis for comparison regarding weights and size, or the music between two bar lines, as in a measure of music. The idea that we are taking a standard and using it to compare students or ourselves against others is ludicrous. I can see taking a stone and saying that it is a unit of weight for all things. A stone of chicken will be the same as a stone of wheat. However, the concept of creating a standard for comparison of what must be taught, or how one is doing based on all other populations, places, cultures, backgrounds, beliefs and experience just makes no sense.

Yet, I am a total victim of doing just that. In The Art of Possibility (2000) The Zander’s say that in order to understand, comprehend and see where we are or need to go we compare ourselves and our associations with others (p.19). This is complete measurement and exactly what I do. Do I have enough education, is this the best material for the subject, what are others writing about, will it get me a good grade? And so it goes. Some of this pressure comes from the outside sources. For instance the state places measurement on my performance as a teacher based on the measurement of my students using NCLB testing. Tell me that isn’t confusing, using one measurement to create another.

Since some of the measurements in my life are imposed by outside forces and are, at this point, it becomes difficult to ask the question presented on page 23. I know how, but I can not stop these measurements from influencing my thoughts and actions if I want to keep my job. The point I think that the Zander’s are trying to make here is that you can’t let these measurements rule your life. By understanding they are there, and that they are not truly tangible, but they do not control your attitude. You can still be happy, productive, creative and produce unique work in spite of them if you chose to do so.


Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2000). The art of possibility (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.