Blogging Around

     The first post I responded to was Katie Jenning's entry Get Organized: Cleaning my room.  In this response Katie wrote about why her room can become messy and what she did to clean and organize it.  She included a lot of details about how she organized it.  She then explained the importance of having a clean room, to her she feels that when her room is clean she is less stressed. She also described what got her to concentrate to tackle the task of organizing her room.  

Katie,

I can really relate to a lot of the things you said in your blog post. I know the feeling of having so much to do, that the last thing on my mind is to clean my room. Usually I am also an organized person, but just like you my room can get a little messy which bothers me. I can really relate to the feeling you described when you stepped back and took it all in. It feels as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. I also love the way you described the process of cleaning you room.
Solid work KatieJ!

-Kimmy 

     The second post I commented on was Mark J's Get Organized: Task That Seemed Easy at First Sight.  In this post Mark started off with explaining how he had a fun weekend planned, but made a promise to himself that he would organize his room first so he could enjoy it. Then, he went on explaining how he made a realization that his mind had already categorized items into certain groups even before he had started organizing.  After, he came across some memorable letters from his friends in Korea.  By finding these Mark felt he was able to see more clearly into himself.  

MarkyJ,
Overall, your blog entry was very interesting. I can really relate to when you said you thought cleaning your room would take 10 minutes but it ended up taking more than 30. I also really liked how you brought and related Aristotle to what you were doing. It was also very cool to see that you made a realization about your mind, how it can separate things into separate categories. It was also very interesting to read about how you found old letters from your friends in Korea. Those must of been really nice to find! Just by cleaning your room, you were brought back with many good memories. Awesome job!
-KimmyD

Get Organized: A Tribute to Aristotle

     The project I chose to tackle was to clean and organize my room.  My goals were to organize my closets so all of my clothes were neat and folded, clean off my desk so there is less clutter, and organize the cabinets in my bathroom.   My room is never spotless, and my goal was to make it spotless.  I knew this was not going to be easy, but I was ready for the challenge.
    My initial thoughts were that this was going to take forever and that I would get frustrated.  I gave myself so much to do, that I could not get side tracked.  I started with my closets and just quickly made sure everything had a hanger, and everything was folded.  Then I found myself making a pile of clothes that I do not wear anymore that I could give away.  My mom had been bothering for awhile to do that, so I thought I mine as well do it while I am cleaning.  I found it hard to give away some of my clothes.  I always have that doubt in my mind, well, what if I do need it someday?  That was a struggle for me.  I did not know I was so sentimental to things.
     After finally finishing my closets I had to move onto my desk.  I have so many different papers and books around my desk that I probably did not need anymore.  So I just made sure I did not throw away anything important, and that part was easy! Once my closets and desk were clean I felt a lot better.  I do not know how, but just having a clean room made me feel more calm.  Next, I was off to my bathroom.
    I just tried to find a place for everything that was sitting on the counter in a cabinet and then I was golden!  All of this was not as hard as I thought it would be.  I felt so much better having a clean and organized room.  My mind had to work to find places for everything in my room, and I guess once I found a place for everything, I was satisfied.  I now know that if I really focus and concentrate on one thing at a time, that I can finish it quickly.  Now I know that it is possible to get things done efficiently.

Metacognition: Creativity Essay

     Some classes in our school really lack creativity.  Same exact thing every day.  When we were assigned the creativity essay, I was really stumped on what class I should pick.  I have taken so many classes over my high school career, but to pick one the one that was lacking in creativity the most was difficult.
     I could not narrow down my choices so I just decided to go with math classes in general.  I came to this conclusion because we have done the exact same thing every single day for four years.  Every single math class is the same. Yes, it is different material but the layout of the classes are identical.  Once I had made my choice, I was supposed to come up with reasons as to why this class was not creative and give suggestions.
    I had my a couple of complaints and suggestions, but once I started writing the essay I felt like I did not have anything to say.  I felt like I could have said what I needed to say in three paragraphs, the goal was one thousand words.  I was at a lost of words.  I found that when I did not know what to say I would just take a break.  I do not think that was effective at all.  Because I would take breaks, when I would go back to writing,  I repeated things I had already said.
   My essay was much to repetitive due to the fact that I was stuck at recommendations to make for math classes.  I guess because my creative side is never challenged in Math, I could not come up with recommendations to switch it.  This was proof that my creative side is terrible because I am never given the chance to use it.
    If my thinking was more creative, I would have have been able to come up with a lot more suggestions.

Best of Week: Starling Activity

     Out of everything we did this week in class, I believe that the most interesting thing we did was the starling activity. We were forced to use our creative sides to come up with a myth about what the starlings do. We also had to use our scientific sides to come up with a reasonable explanation of how they are able to do this. There are so many different logics to why these birds can fly in formations like this, and that is where we were all forced to use our creativeness.
     When Mr. Allen showed us the video of the starlings, it made me think of how animals can do so many amazing things. I never really realized how other creatures can do so many unique things. Starlings making amazing formations was not the only thing that intrigued me. When we were told to come up with a myth, I had no ideas in my head. I was lost. I did not really know the definition of a myth.
     When I think of the word myth, Greek gods automatically pop into my mind.  I think myths are just the backgrounds of how and why everything was created.  We all had such different ideas of a story we could make up.  I am guessing this is kind of how myths were made, the Greek gods made logical assumptions of how things were created.  Thinking of a myth is more difficult than it sounds.  It is very hard to come up with something that is fake, yet sounds like it could actually happen.
      We all have such different imaginations.  I sat down with my group, and I ideas just started coming out of all of us.  It is weird to think that we were all given the same original material and came up with completely different stories. In school these days, we are rarely given the chance to use our creativeness or imaginations.  
    When I am writing, I never become very creative.  I feel like if I had the chance to use my imagination more often, it would be much greater. Just in circumstances that I encounter every day, I wish I use more of my imagination.  Now, when I think of random objects or traditions etc., in the back of my mind I am going to be making a myth for why that is the way it is.
     Using our imagination is key to being a creative person.

Metacognition: Mindbook

     It all starts with a plain white page in a sketch book.  Nothing to go off from.  Everything is to be created from the small brain inside my head.  With very few guidelines and so much freedom, it is almost more difficult then when I am given step by step directions.  The assignment has the possibilities of being super creative and amazing, or just down right terrible.
     On one specific mindbook assignment, the map to you, I was faced with a challenge.  The prompt left me with so many ways of interpreting it, that it was very difficult to start.  I started to think of different shapes I could map my life out on.  Eventually I came to the conclusion that a winding road would best describe my life because somethings are never ending.  Although picking the shape was hard, it was not the most difficult.
     The most difficult part about this assignment was choosing ten emotions, events, or places that described me.  Some people love to talk about themselves and brag, and know who they are inside and out.  Yeah, I am not one of those people.  It took me forever just to come up with five elements for my mindbook assignment.  I really got stuck once I got to number eight.  I feel like that should have been the easy part of the assignment.  Most people would have gotten those element written down in a minute or two.  Why was this so hard for me? Is there something wrong with me? I found myself at the point where I was asking one of my friends some ideas of what describes me.  Other people know be better than I know myself.
    I wish I could understand myself a little better.  I wish I knew all of my strengths and weaknesses.  It would make life so much easier.  It takes me a little bit longer to think and process information when I am not an expert at the subject.  Once I get those core ideas out though, I can really get going.  It just takes me a while to get all of my ideas formulated.  Just like it did for this mindbook assignment.  Once I finally got those ten elements, I was on a roll.
    The way I think might take longer at first, but it does always pull through in the end.  It would be a lot easier and faster if all my ideas just came to me right away.  Overall, my thinking has never let me down.

Blogging Around

     In the first comment I responded to Jessie's blog post Best of the Week: The Elusive Big Idea.  In her post she reflected on the article The Elusive Big Idea.  She explained how she thought that the internet and all of the new technology that we have has prevented our generation from coming up with the "Big Idea". Or in other words, it is making us become less creative people.  She also went over how we tend to overlook how things originated because we are so focused on the new thing.

     I would have to agree with everything you said here.  I think that the internet and certain web sites really are preventing us from being the next big thinkers.  We are so dependent on facebook, pinterest, and other web sites like that, it is so easy for us to just look up a cool idea rather than create it ourselves.  I feel that another way that computers are doing harm on us, well at least for me, is that I have become so dependent on spell check.  I am so bad at spelling and I think the reason for that is because of always writing on Microsoft Word.  All of these great inventions took great thinkers to come up with them, yet they are also preventing us from being creative as well.

     In my second comment I responded to Katie Dwyer's post, It matters: Creativity or Plagiarism.  Her post was about how there is a very thin line between creativity and plagiarism.  She wrote about how while you may think your just being creative, there is a great chance that you are really copying what someone has already done before you.  She explained how using someone else's idea and being creative are so similar that it is really hard to tell the difference.

     I would have to agree with a lot that you are saying. When all the teachers read the same exact rules in every single class, honestly, nobody listens. They make it sound like every idea we have ever heard can never be used again because we can not copy. The only way we get smarter is by learning from example. No one has completely original ideas, because they are always using past examples to form what they create. Honestly, for the most part, no one is purposely plagiarizing, they are just using examples. Now, on the other hand copy and pasting a paper and saying it is yours is going a little over board, and that is more of the focus of plagiarizing. Overall I think the whole plagiarizing idea is drilled down a little too much at the beginning of the year.

Best of Week: Born into Brothels

The most intriguing idea I had from class this past week was from watching the film Born into Brothels.    One person really can make a difference.  This documentary really changed my opinion and outlook on so many things that I never really thought about before.  So many people in this world could make a tremendous impact, but are not given the chance.  These kids in Calcutta were given a chance.  

The kids in the red light district in Calcutta had no future other than growing up and living in the brothels for the rest of their lives.  Those types of kids are never given a chance to step out of the red light district.  They were lost causes.  Then, Zana Briski made everything possible for them.  She changed their lives forever.  

Zana Briski took a risk by venturing into Calcutta and recording it.  She risked her life to get to know these kids, and teach them.  Just a little thing like Zana teaching them photography brought on this new level of intelligence for all of these kids, and a new level of respect from them to her.  These kids idolized her as a role model and a teacher.  Zana made their stories so interesting to follow.  

I saw things in this documentary that I never imagined happening. The way those ladies talked to their kids was terrible, but the more amazing thing was the way the kids took it.  They were such bright kids and always seemed so positive, just loving the little things in life.  They were put into the worst possible situations yet seemed to be perfectly fine.  This makes me think, how many kids around the world live like these seven did? What do their futures hold for them?

I believe that more people, and organizations should be out there helping kids growing up in brothels just like Zana did.  Imagine if all of these kids were given the chance to receive an education and reach the full potential all children should have the chance to reach.  This one lady changed the lives of seven unfortunate children, imagine the impact of just a few more! They do not deserve the way they are being treated and should get a chance! 

When these kids were given a chance almost all of them found their way out of the red light district, and began new lives for themselves.  These kids are role models for me.  If they can survive what they did, I can do anything I set my mind to.  They are true heroes and so is Zana Briski.  

Connection: Steve Wozniak and Philo Farnsworth

One thing that Steve Wozniak and Philo Farnsworth have in common is that they are both technological geniuses.  Everyday life would be much more complicated without the wonderful inventions these men thought of. While I read the article The Televisionary I realized that Philo Farnsworth was in a very similar position as Steve Wozniak because they both aren't greatly remembered.  How were these two geniuses who played major roles in developing new technologies forgotten? These two had different yet similar reasons for being forgotten.

 Philo Farnsworth was the original man to come up with the idea for the television, but does not get the credit for it.  He believed that if you had the vision of the invention, it was yours.  That was one of his mistakes, he did not understand that the execution of the invention was just as important.  Another mistake he made was that he believed that an invention belonged to one person, but an invention required a collaboration of ideas.  Farnsworth liked total control and that kind of mindset just does not work.  Farnsworth did not want help, if he had help he would have been much more successful.  On the other hand, Wozniak's story was a little different.

When people think of apple computers, the name that immediately comes to mind is Steve Jobs.  Although Steve Jobs contributed a massive amount to apple computers, he did not invent the original design, Steve Wozniak did.  Why is it that Wozniak is so easily forgotten? Wozniak was in an unfortunate plane crash and quit Apple computers.  He then went on to finish college to get his degree in electrical engineering and computer science.  From then on he did not take on a roll in the apple computers industry which is why he is not as well known today.  With such a different reason to not execute his vision, they both ended up in the same position, not remembered.

One thing that is similar to why these two aren't well known is because they both had the vision of the invention but did not pursue it all the way.  In Farnsworth's case he just did not want help, similarly, Wozniak just did not put in the effort that Steve Jobs did to make the company super successful.  Their stories show some very good lessons that anyone could use daily.

Both of their cases show me that an idea is not everything.  If I have an idea I should act on it.  Also, another thing to take out from their past experiences is that help is always better.  Two brains are better than one.  In any situation I am in, I should keep it in mind that asking for help is always an option, and I will be more successful if I just ask for help.

What If?: The Creativity Crisis.

What If?: The Creativity Crisis.

A class of kindergartners is sitting at a table playing with play doh.  One kid might come up with a huge elaborate design, or another might just roll it into a ball and throw it at his peer.  What these kids are doing with the play doh shows a lot of how creative they are going to be later on in life.  What happens if kindergarten classes stop playing with play doh, or other fun activities? The creativity might just come to a stop.  What if our education was based on creativity?

Remember when on the first day of third grade everyone rushes into to class to see who the teacher is and who there classmates will be for the entire year.  Also, how everyone is assigned a desk and supplies with certain colors or each subject, and all the same pens and pencils. What if everyone got to decorate their desk, or pick their favorite colors for their folders.  Instead of sitting down at a desk and learning how to multiply four by six on a piece of paper, they got skittles or blocks that they could use to help them. The way kids learn at that early of an age can effect the way they think for the rest of their lives.

Every year the IQ scores increase and the creativity scores decrease, is there a problem in our education(Bronson, Po)? Yes we seem to be nailing ACT scores but what will that test on paper really do for us later in life? All teens think it's an accomplishment to get a perfect score, yes thats incredible, but what about those teens who aren't the best at test taking.  A score on a test doesn't necessarily prove how successful one is going to be later on in life.  The Chinese seem to always be a step ahead of everyone else because in their education they really focus on creativity. Our country would develop much more creative thinkers if there our education was based more on innovative thinking.

What if not everyone had to take the ACT to get into college, and instead there was a test where one had to problem solve using something creative. Based on that test one would be scored, and thats how teens would get into college.  Would that not be amazing? Our country is currently having some major problems, yes we have brainiacs graduating from Harvard and Yale, but we need people in our country to problem solve with creative ideas.  Just imagine how much more successful and powerful our country would be if we had more creative thinkers.

Our country focuses way too much on standardized curriculum and memorization, we need to step it up! With educating kids at young ages to be innovative yet brilliant thinkers our country would be unstoppable.  What if we eventually reached China's model and beat them out.  All of this is totally possible, we just can't let all our creativeness go and we should encourage it in schools.  With creative thinkers the US might just become even more powerful than it already is, so China better watch out.