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Notes Towards Day 2 (Thurs, Sept. 1): "Moving" Educational Autobiographies

Submitted by Anne Dalke on Tue, 08/23/2011 - 11:29am

untitled, Elizabeth Catanese

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Breaking in Six Degrees

Hallie Garrison

“I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on this planet.”

John Guare, Six Degrees of Separation

The First Degree

I pull in closer to smell the aftershave on the father’s collar, rounding this same corner for the fifth time today. My bike wheels give a squeak, and I jolt back to the pavement because I’m afraid they’ll notice I don’t actually belong—not here, not to their picnic. Lately I’ve found myself wanting a refresher course in the art of family making. A mother, a father, a sibling, or two? A grandmother, she knits. A grandfather, he’s quiet, but the aunt (ant or ahnt) is far too rowdy. Uncles come and go, recover and remarry, such that there are branches and branches and branches of cousins.

introducing myself

Submitted by jccohen on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 11:21am

I’m Jody Cohen, teacher of one of the ESem sections, and I’ll introduce myself by sharing a piece of my educational autobiography. I grew up in a suburb outside Washington, D.C.

Workbooked: Truth and Power in Education, Bharath Vallabha

Prompts for Further Writing and Thinking

Writing to Read

Write a description (even a caricature, if you like) of a teacher Vallabha’s text evokes in your imagination. What might this person’s body language, actions, and speech be like? What would he or she do to manifest an understanding that “growth involves a rupture?” On the first day of class? In creating a final exam? When a student seemed to go through the motions rather than engage with material?

The text:

Truth and Power in Education

Bharath Vallabha

The initiation rituals in early human communities suggest the following things:

a) Growth involves a rupture (children being separated from their parents for days), old patterns being discontinued.

b) Growth requires the enforcement of a new narrative which will reinforce forgoing the old habits and strengthen the new habits.

c) (a) and (b) require a shared communal sense that the rupture and the enforcement are actually good for the kids.

d) (c) makes the people teaching the kids not feel bad about enforcing their views on the kids because they know that they are not enforcing their personal views but the values of the general community.

Truth and Power in Education

Bharath Vallabha

The initiation rituals in early human communities suggest the following things:

a) Growth involves a rupture (children being separated from their parents for days), old patterns being discontinued.

b) Growth requires the enforcement of a new narrative which will reinforce forgoing the old habits and strengthen the new habits.

c) (a) and (b) require a shared communal sense that the rupture and the enforcement are actually good for the kids.

The basic fact of contemporary society is that the community has grown so inclusive that there are no deep shared stories. It is hard to point to any ideas which are shared across the board by the parents of the children who go to school and college. (Also related is the society’s focus on each person thinking for themselves.)

This diversity in the community has the following effect on education:

Fun Facts About Neurons

Here are some interesting statistics* about neurons in humans and other animals (remember that these are averages because there is a lot of variability in the nervous system!):

Average number of neurons in the human brain = 100 billion
Average number of neurons in the octopus brain = 300 million
Rate of neuron growth during fetal development in utero = 250,000 neurons/minute
Diameter of a neuron = 4 to 100 microns
Length of giraffe primary afferent axon (from neck to toe) = 15 feet
Velocity of signal transmitted through a neuron = 1.2 to 250 miles/hour
There are as many neurons in the human brain as stars in the Milky Way
The number of ways information travels in the human brain is greater than the number of stars in the universe

What if we lined up all the neurons in our body? How long would that line stretch?

Let's assume that one neuron is about 10 microns long. Remember, this is just an example, because neurons come in all different sizes. So, if we line up 100 billion neurons which are 10 microns long...

100,000,000,000 neurons x 10 microns = 1,000 km or about 600 miles!

This may help with the math:
1,000 microns= 1millimeter (mm)
10 mm = 1 centimeter (cm)
100 cm = 1 meter (m)
1,000 m = 1 kilometer (km)

Nerve Cells

The Amazing Neuron

Animated Neuron

Neurons come in a variety of shapes and sizes, depending upon their function and specialized structures. However, in general, all neurons work in the same manner and resemble each other. And, in addition, our neurons look almost exactly like the neurons of a dolphin, a cat, or a squirrel!

What do you notice about the image above?