Limantour Beach, Point Reyes
holy water
December 21, 2009 at 9:46 pm (art, culture, photography, random)
Tags: art, beach, black & white photography, clouds, Limantour Beach, Minolta X 700, nature, ocean, Point Reyes
calling all photo lovers
December 21, 2009 at 9:33 pm (art, culture, education, entertainment, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, life, photography, random)
Tags: Adam Brobjorg, art, LensFlare35, photoblog, photography, photography contest
Okay, here’s the deal, I have NO idea just how many photoblogs there are from the work of one shot snappers to top hot shot professionals. Then there all the viewers, browsers, and lurkers who silently, and not so silently, flow through the web network admiring and dishing the images served up by others. Point is, there are a lot of folks out there who appreciate photography as an art form. Current question is how many of ‘you’ are willing to view someone else’s art and post an honest comment about it? For some I realize this might require breaking your sound barrier. Why am I yapping so? If you’re inclined to help someone else win a contest with NO gain for yourself whatsoever–yes, this is a purely alutristic action–then visit the link to the post on LensFlare35 about Adam Brobjorg. Perhaps together we can make a positive difference in someone’s life.
http://www.lensflare35.com/young-photographer-contest
My personal favorites are his Nepal images. shanti om
Concerning ‘education’ at large…
December 21, 2009 at 11:55 am (culture, education, life, random, Uncategorized, Writing)
Tags: discovery, education, grades, imagination, learning, Northrup Frye, quest, student teacher ratio, teachers, teaching, tests, textbooks, the educated imagination
I’ve had it up to ‘here’ and way beyond with folks bewailing the quality of public education in the States. No one seems to know what to do to improve this mess except to demand more tests. More tests will not improve education on any level. It cannot work. It does not work. Never has and never will. Test taking has nothing to do with real learning. I say toss the whole test taking industry into the trash bin immediately. If I had my way grades would also zoom into the trash bin. Why? Because they’re just ‘grades’ and they do not accurately measure learning either. Either someone ‘learns’ or they do not. Learning cannot be forced. IF something has been really ‘learned’ then it can be applied/used/put into motion by the ‘student’.
Based on experience, I know of a few things that DO work when it comes to improving the petri dish that is classroom education. Consider this my ‘gift’ of the season:
~~Optimal student to teacher ration is 1 teacher for every 14 students. This is NOT a newsflash–it’s well-known and been documented plenty.
~~Oh yeah, an invested teacher can do a lot with 14 students. And 14 students can get a lot from a teacher who wants to teach. A teacher who wants to teach might be described as someone who wants to engage students–not keep them at an intellectual taser’s length distance. With 14 students’ in a class, a teacher has not just the time but the mental wherewithall to address each as individuals.
~~Textbooks need to ‘go’ away. Why employ a textbook when there are so many BETTER books to use for teaching? Yes, this means a teacher would have to search out tomes that would best serve their teaching goals–rather than have some textbook dictate what’s on the mental menu every single day of the school experience. Yes, this is ‘work’ –but it is work that pays off for both the teacher and their students. Everyone’s ‘mind’ can be engaged in material that is appealing and fresh.
~~Speaking of ‘fresh’–what the hell is with teachers who use the same material, the same lesson plans, the same approaches year after year after year? They’ve got to be bored to death mentally. I’ve heard many say they are bored to death by doing the same material the same way time and time again. Guess what–a teacher’s BOREDOM is conveyed to their students who are in turn bored and then see no reason to actively engage with the teacher or subject. IF a teacher doesn’t like teaching, doesn’t like their subject, doesn’t like students then they ought to NOT be teachers. If they’re bored they need to get ‘un-bored’ or depart the classroom.
~~Teaching ought to be an engagement in the act of discovery. This involves embarking on a quest to explore, question, and think independently. Often this throws out the bathwater of absolute right answers. (No–this does NOT mean that one plus one no longer equals two in math. Although in an alternate reality it might…) In the words of Northrup Frye, one strives to “educate the imagination” so that it can creatively address all sorts of ‘questions’ until suitable responses are discovered.
~~More than a daily ‘lecture’ ought to go on in any classroom. Dialogue is very useful for exploring thoughts and new concepts. Arrangement of students desks/chairs so that they have eye contact with each other and the teacher encourages dialogue.
~~Oh yes, there is a useful ‘rule’ to employ in regard to ‘dialogue’/communication/communication —Distinguish between what a person ‘says’ and the person themself when debate/arguing/disputes arise. It is one thing to say, “That is a silly answer.” It is another to say, “You’re a silly idiot.” Mutual respect goes a long way to developing positive communication. People can’t all like each other– but they can all respect each other.
~~Yes, schools are stuffed full of students with terrible home lives. Social issues abound. What are the causes of these social issues? My take is that our culture is bankrupt–it has nothing to offer but the goal of consuming as much as possible. Nothing is valued except money.
Enjoy the ‘holy days’, fruity-cakes, eggnog, new game boxes, cars, and other toys. What’s going on in the classroom of life’? hmm?
Out of the box learning in action:
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/plains/72762717.html
Alfred Fisherman, Cherry Creek District 1922
December 21, 2009 at 3:40 am (Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, culture, history, Indigenous People, Lakota, Native Americans)
Tags: 1922, Alfred Fisherman, Cherry Creek, Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, culture, history, Lakota, reservation life, South Dakota
Alfred Fisherman
Alfred Fisherman 2
om mani padme hum jewel in the lotus wahupa qi prana universal life energy
47whitebuffalo's Blog 