As I sit here trying to decide what I will blog about a series of things rushes in. Visualizing them all my first thought I had was Perspective. It is perspective that truly drives one's life and determines the quality of it. During rough times it is hard to put things in perspective but when you do, its amazing how much more "doable" the task becomes. I feel that this is something that I have been realizing lately with the challenges that have been thrown our way and have been amazed at the change in mentality with just the simple realization that perspective makes the experience.
With that being said, life has been pretty boring from where I sit, at least not as fast-paced as life is during the school year. Don't get me wrong, I love the break but it's about this time in my summer when I begin to get antsy. It has been so nice though to get to spend time with family, especially now that our nieces and nephew have moved back into town with their family. I have loved getting to spend time with them and my mother-in-law. It is so fun getting to talk with little ones. Their fascination with the world is so intoxicating and I find myself easily falling into their world. I have also been able to work some on the house, organizing and such, with the help of my mother. Talk about an overwhelming experience. It is so much easier to do such tasks with the help of others and I have so appreciated the time and help she has given me.
Along with my break from school and having 'my life back" it has been difficult with the absence of Karl. He is absolutely loving his new job and is definitely staying busy. It has been difficult for me at times with him being gone and only seeing him every 7 days or so. But keeping it in perspective, I know that many families go without a spouse for several months at a time so I am not complaining, just stating the realization that I have had since Karl has taken his job. It's amazing how much you take for granted. I am definitely looking forward to him coming home next. Hopefully once training ends I hope that it gets better but only time will tell.
Going back to spending time with family, yesterday was such a day in which I was with family for the majority of the day. We started the 4th with a parade at Granny's. I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to similar events in the future. It was so great to see the residents smiling and genuinely happy. We also were able to attend Freedom Fest for the first time which was a really neat event. I definitely look forward to attending again in the future. Yesterday was probably the first day that I was able to enjoy the local events of San Angelo in a long time. Karl and I aren't very good about getting out of the house. We're such home-bodies. :)
Reading update: I still haven't finished "Brain Rules" although I am getting closer. Here is what I have learned since my last post. [Sorry if all my thoughts relate to teaching - it's who I am]
Rule #4: We don't pay attention to boring things. Medina speaks of teaching in chunks of 10-minutes, so as to keep the attention of your students. This is such an interesting notion and really makes sense from what I have seen in the classroom first hand. After about 10-minutes we zone out and need to be drawn back in for full attention to be attained
Rule #5 & #6: Repeat to remember and remember to repeat. In these chapters he basically explained how memory-making works and how to retain memories. What was very interesting to me was the fact that we can actually change our memories of certain events unintentionally over time. He also encouraged reviewing in cycles and how this would greatly help the students to remember the information as it is constantly recalled, hard-wiring it in our memories.
Rule #7: Sleep well, think well. Very interesting chapter about the role that sleeping plays in our lives. Medina discusses that while we sleep we review and make memory of the events that occurred the day before. What this means for education is if we we teach a concept to students that it would prove more beneficial to have them sleep on it (8 hours worth) and then revisit the same idea the next day. This should provide a better understanding and ability to recall information than if we just continually go each day with no review. He also discusses how our bodies are hard-wired to take a nap in the mid-afternoon and that taking this nap improves our productive ability. Also, interestingly enough, we are all hard-wired differently as to our "internal clocks" and most-productive times of the day. Some of us, like my mother, are what they call "larks" where they function best in the early morning hours and seem to get up before the alarm even sounds in the morning. Others are "owls", who are most productive in the afternoon and don't really get tired until around 3 am and would prefer to sleep in until after 10 am. The rest of us are dubbed "hummingbirds" where we bounce between the two extremes. Truly interesting.
Rule #8: Stressed brains don't learn the same way. This chapter really hit me hard and drove me to want to do something. The effects that stress has on our lives is absolutely amazing. In a sense stress is good for us because it releases hormones and other various entities in our bodies which are vital for our bodies to thrive. However, if we are chronically stressed this is not a good thing. Chronic stress can lead to depression, the kinds that causes individuals to attempt suicide. It is devastating to realize the effect stress has on families and how it can destroy them without you even realizing. This is true of children and adults. There is more to it than that - if you read any chapter in Medina's book you should read this one. Life changing material.
Rule #9: Stimulate more of the senses. Supporting everything that I have heard in the realm of education since I began teaching, Medina suggests that incorporating more sense in a task encourages better recall. He spoke of many studies that suggest how even the sense of smell can make a drastic impact on recall - it is truly astounding.
I am currently reading Rule #10 and will report upon finishing. Have a great rest of the week everyone!
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