Education Phase Two;
By; Chuck Thompson
Some years back I took courses in Mega Memory and how we learn. The spoken word is a language of creating pictures and images in our minds for us to understand. Without these pictures, we can not understand what is being conveyed to us by another person. In other words, we think in pictures, not words. Yes you hear words in your head, but there is an underlying part in your brain that is translating all those words into pictures. Now not all words have pictures to them. Some are conceptual words such as no, stop, and don't or do not and not. Try for a moment to think of a picture for no.
Okay, no picture there. Now how about for stop? Well we have the Stop signs all over our roads so we do have a picture for that, or do we? Well no we do not. Again, the stop sign had to be created and is still a conceptual piece with no picture that can be attached to it. This is why parents have such a hard time with their children. Children do not understand conceptual language as there is no picture in their heads for this. Concepts such as time out, scolding or even a mild spank of the butt sends the message to a child trying to teach a concept. In the event you care to argue this, do NOT think of a pink polka dot yellow elephant. (Aha, got ya didn't I). Yes even today at your present age, you still do not have an image for a conceptual word. If you come up with one, the world will pave more gold at your feet than you know what to do with.
Conceptual learning is the toughest subject to learn and also to teach. A child who does poor in math has a conceptual learning disability, not a learning disability. There are no pictures for math. There are symbols that we call numbers for learning, but no pictures. The nice thing about math is that pictures can be applied to the numbers. This does become a problem though when dealing with multiple numbers and subjects such as multiplication and division. I have a son who is conceptual learning handicapped. At 11, he still can't figure out the basic concepts of simple math as he can not apply pictures to it. He still has issues with no, stop, do not and so forth. He isn't at all stupid, he reads like a champ and understands what he reads. He understands and applies picture language very well. Move him into the conceptual world and he is just lost.
Now is he a total lose? Not at all. We have taught him to use an abacus and he flies with it. It's something he does understand as the image is right in front of him. Take the abacus away and he is once again lost. I do a tremendous amount of photography, video production and I build and own a large amount of web sites. He understands all of this and loves it. Now I have to use creativity and conceptual processes in my work to make my work stand out from the crowd. It's what separates average from great. While conceptualizing a shot or video, I am able to explain what I am doing and he gets it. He can see the process and the end results so he understands why I did what I did and how.
We have worked together on creating videos that he conceptualized and created. Some of them are incredibly good, but I am able to see him still getting lost in the process and then recovering as he understands what the end results will be.
So again, even in the conceptual stages of learning it's the hands on experience that make all the difference in the world. My son understands concepts that do not have pictures attached to them when he can do it as a hands on project. Take away the hands on aspect though and he is perpetually lost. In my first article on “The State of Education”, I talked about, “The Cone of Learning”, and at the top of that cone was the actual hands on doing as the number one way people learn. It is equally so in the arena of conceptual thinking and applications. How this can be applied to those with conceptual learning disabilities I have yet to master when it comes to subjects such as math unless the abacus is used and taught to those with such disabilities. This is not an area that is presently addressed well in our present educational system. Let's hope this changes and that is part of what I am seeking to do. My next article will continue in the line of conceptual issues and this promises to be a very hot topic that I am sure everyone can get something out of.
Defending The Republic, Not some Democracy, and enjoying some of life's rewards along the way.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Ghosts of Gloucester County Virginia - Pictures
Title got your attention now didn't it. Well these photos were all taken at the Split Enz shop on Gloucester Main Street. They did an incredible job decorating for the season. Enjoy the slide show.
The State of Education Today
The State Of Education Today;
By; Chuck Thompson
I just recently finished reading a book by Donald Trump and David Kiyosaki entitled, “Why We Want You To Be Rich”. A section in the book, David talks about his father who was in charge of Education in Hawaii, and how corrupt the educational system is. The corruption that David goes on to explain was how his father had noticed that when he was a young man in high school, he noticed that a lot of his friends were dropping out of school left and right. When David's father, who was then the class president asked about the subject, he got the run around. Then one day he finally got the real answer.
A Shocking Truth;
The truth of why all his friends were all disappearing from school was a real shocker that changed David's father's life forever. The truth of the matter was that the school board had a deal with all the sugar plantations in the state to fail, yes I said FAIL, 20 percent of all the students before graduation no matter how well or poorly they were doing. The reason? The sugar plantations wanted to ensure that they had a steady supply of uneducated or under educated people to work the sugar fields. This way they could also keep the wages low for these workers since the chances of them getting better jobs wasn't very good.
What is also interesting in this book is the fact that a major theme for why this book was written is because of how poor our present day education system really is. David presents a diagram called, “The Cone of Learning”. This diagram has been known by Boards of Education throughout the US since the 1960's. Exactly how we learn and how we retain what we learn is well documented in this diagram. At the top of the cone and in this order is how our learning works best to worst.
After 2 weeks we tend to remember;
90% of what we say and do
by;
1.) Doing the real thing
2.) Simulating the real experience
3.) Doing a dramatic presentation
70% of what we say;
4.) Giving a talk
5.) Participating in a discussion
50% of what we hear and see;
6.) Seeing it done on location
7.) Watching a demonstration
8.) Looking at an exhibit watching a demonstration
9.) watching a movie
30% of what we see;
10.) Looking at pictures
10% of what we read;
11.) Reading
As one can see, at the top of the list is doing the real thing. Art class is where children learn more in school as they are actually participating in a hands on experience. Now if you could combine art class with history, and you can, then you have a superior teaching tool than what is presently at hand in our school systems. Reading is at the very bottom of the list. To send a student home to read and then turn in a report on what they read is not at all conducive to education. A better model would be to send a student home with a manual on how to do something and give them the tools and goods to produce the end result, or to build a product and then to go home and write the manual on how the product was built. These are real skills that would serve us all much better in the future as well as the present for learning and doing.
This is real hands on and not passive learning. These are skills that will last a life time. The first objective for a child going to school is to learn to read. After that, the skills must then be applied and enforced in children. Once this is firmly established, then the schools should move on to conceptual skills of mathematics and the sciences.
Today we spend more money on education than just about any nation, yet the failure and drop out rate for our country is deplorable. Our SAT scores are some of the worst in the world. Is this by design like David's father experienced? My best guess? Yes it is. Should we do something about it? Absolutely. This is part one in a new series I am presenting and hope everyone enjoys it.
By; Chuck Thompson
I just recently finished reading a book by Donald Trump and David Kiyosaki entitled, “Why We Want You To Be Rich”. A section in the book, David talks about his father who was in charge of Education in Hawaii, and how corrupt the educational system is. The corruption that David goes on to explain was how his father had noticed that when he was a young man in high school, he noticed that a lot of his friends were dropping out of school left and right. When David's father, who was then the class president asked about the subject, he got the run around. Then one day he finally got the real answer.
A Shocking Truth;
The truth of why all his friends were all disappearing from school was a real shocker that changed David's father's life forever. The truth of the matter was that the school board had a deal with all the sugar plantations in the state to fail, yes I said FAIL, 20 percent of all the students before graduation no matter how well or poorly they were doing. The reason? The sugar plantations wanted to ensure that they had a steady supply of uneducated or under educated people to work the sugar fields. This way they could also keep the wages low for these workers since the chances of them getting better jobs wasn't very good.
What is also interesting in this book is the fact that a major theme for why this book was written is because of how poor our present day education system really is. David presents a diagram called, “The Cone of Learning”. This diagram has been known by Boards of Education throughout the US since the 1960's. Exactly how we learn and how we retain what we learn is well documented in this diagram. At the top of the cone and in this order is how our learning works best to worst.
After 2 weeks we tend to remember;
90% of what we say and do
by;
1.) Doing the real thing
2.) Simulating the real experience
3.) Doing a dramatic presentation
70% of what we say;
4.) Giving a talk
5.) Participating in a discussion
50% of what we hear and see;
6.) Seeing it done on location
7.) Watching a demonstration
8.) Looking at an exhibit watching a demonstration
9.) watching a movie
30% of what we see;
10.) Looking at pictures
10% of what we read;
11.) Reading
As one can see, at the top of the list is doing the real thing. Art class is where children learn more in school as they are actually participating in a hands on experience. Now if you could combine art class with history, and you can, then you have a superior teaching tool than what is presently at hand in our school systems. Reading is at the very bottom of the list. To send a student home to read and then turn in a report on what they read is not at all conducive to education. A better model would be to send a student home with a manual on how to do something and give them the tools and goods to produce the end result, or to build a product and then to go home and write the manual on how the product was built. These are real skills that would serve us all much better in the future as well as the present for learning and doing.
This is real hands on and not passive learning. These are skills that will last a life time. The first objective for a child going to school is to learn to read. After that, the skills must then be applied and enforced in children. Once this is firmly established, then the schools should move on to conceptual skills of mathematics and the sciences.
Today we spend more money on education than just about any nation, yet the failure and drop out rate for our country is deplorable. Our SAT scores are some of the worst in the world. Is this by design like David's father experienced? My best guess? Yes it is. Should we do something about it? Absolutely. This is part one in a new series I am presenting and hope everyone enjoys it.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Blue Grass Music From The Last Muster, Civil War Days, Gloucester Courthouse
More blue Grass music from the Last Muster event here in Gloucester.
Last Muster Of The Civil War, Gloucester Courthouse, Video
Some more video from the Last Muster of the Civil War at the Gloucester County Historic Courthouse Circle. Next year's event will be held in May and down at the point on the water. We are already scheduled to be there and will be doing a lot of early promotions on this.
Hip Expressions Tribal Dance, White Marsh Shopping Center
The nice folks over at Hip Expressions gave a grand show at the event this past weekend at the White Marsh Shopping Center. Aela Badiana and her crew performed some tribal dance moves for the crowd. One of the events best shows. Hip Expressions has their studio at this shopping center, so for you ladies interested in learning more about his art form of dance or maybe taking off a few pounds and having fun doing so, this is a great place to consider. You can visit Aele at her web site as well by Clicking Here.
Last Muster Of The Civil War, Gloucester, Virginia
Some more video from the Last Muster. We will get slide shows up and a lot more video soon. Enjoy.
Last Muster Of The Civil War, Gloucester Courthouse
We have a lot of catching up to do. This past summer we shot so much video and an incredible amount of pictures, processing all of it has proven to be a major job. Also with a death in the family, we had to take a break and travel out of town for awhile. Now we are trying to play catch up on so much that we are sitting on. Here is a music video we shot at the Last Muster, August 17th, 2010, Civil War Days at the historic courthouse circle. This was a great event put on by the county. We have a ton of pictures and video from this event that we also plan on sharing. So hold on everyone as we catch up on all the news.
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