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“Don’t Stare at a Blank Screen” is an activity that encourages the brainstorming of all ideas—regardless of whether or not they are good. The authors of The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking argue that this is a worthwhile activity because they believe that bad ideas are better than no ideas at all. A student organization that I am a part of has taken a negative turn this year and I decided to use this activity to brainstorm ways to fix the organization so that it does not run itself into the ground. I opened up a blank document on my computer, wrote my issue at the top of the page, and as the instructions suggested, started writing any ideas that came to mind. I struggle with writing things down that do not look complete or polished, so I had a really hard time at the beginning of this assignment. After about 6 minutes of re-reading every sentence that I wrote and eventually re-writing it, I decided to turn off the screen to my computer so that I would not be able to analyze my ideas as I was writing them. By turning off the screen, I was able to get my ideas out without worrying about, not only what others would think about them, but what I would think about them as well. Once I felt that I had laid out as many ideas as possible, I turned my computer screen back on and looked through what I wrote. I picked out the ideas that were impossible (i.e. changing the personality of the co-chair), tried to figure out what about them made them impossible ideas (i.e. a person’s personality is part of who they are and is something that cannot be easily changed), and then attempted to alter the idea into a good idea (i.e. appoint a new co-chair with a better attitude/personality to replace existing co-chair). While some of the ideas ...
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...ost all parts of life. For example, it could be used to brainstorm a menu for an event or to consider possible ways to solve a logic puzzle. The only change I would make to the instructions would be to have the participants turn off the monitor of their computer so that they do not have the ability to develop tunnel vision on what they already wrote and lose all the ideas that are still in their mind. Additionally, using this activity in partnership to “Say It Like You See It” could really expand the ideas and create a fuller, more rich brainstorm. In conclusion, I think that “Don’t Stare at a Blank Screen” is a really effective way to assess your ideas and it should be embraced more widely at Williams College where there seems to be this assumption that people think in perfect, completed thoughts and, therefore, in order to fit in you can never have a bad idea.
Sketching is still the best way to exclude ideas, even with the tech sketching program available online, using pen and paper. Preparation of ideas enables you to experiment independently, it prevents you from flipping through better details.
The first article Why Being a Thinker Means Pocketing your Cell Phone by Todd Leopold talks about a fictional story of a man who sat at an office literally doing nothing. At first it may have seemed as though the man was being lazy but the man was actually just sitting there and thinking. He was using his imagination in order to produce new ideas that would enhance the company and increase revenue. In order for the man to truly think he sat there blankly staring off into the world and letting his mind wander.
This is how you train your unconscienced to kick in creatively.” (Lamott 96) This is overall good advice for most. Some or all of us get distracted by many things chores, life, kids, work, cat that won’t stop meowing even a simple list that Lammot states is “Nurse Ratchet like listing of things that must be done right this moment” (96). The author says that we need to ignore all distractions no matter how much our brain may scream at us to get the other work done or something bad will happen we must persevere to finish or at least start the paper. Or else it will never get done and you will be putting together a Frankenstein like paper at two in the morning.
After reading the article, “The Myth of ‘I’m Bad at Math’” I began to think about my past learning experiences and realized that my opinions on this subject have changed drastically over the years. For the most part, I felt like this article made a lot of good points, especially considering my own experience with believing in incremental vs. fixed intelligence. Basically from the beginning of my schooling I was taught to think that some kids were just smarter than others, and that that couldn’t necessarily be changed. I think this had a lot to do with the fact that I was considered a “smart” kid: I caught onto most learning concepts easily, so people told me that I was “smarter” than other kids. If I had been a child who learned a different way, I think that I would have been taught to believe in the incremental model of intelligence very early on as to not discourage me from growing as a learner (which was exactly what teaching kids that
I have few ideas and even less time. The blinking computer cursor on an otherwise empty screen was the college version of the blank white page of my earlier years, before technology had taken us so far. But for me, it was, in many ways, the same old problem. With early drafts of a paper rarely required, I came time and time again to a point where a significant portion of my grade rested on what was essentially a single night’s work. I usually left myself no option but to write in one long session on a computer - there weren’t enough hours remaining to compose a version on paper to be typed up afterward.
there is no way I could write what I had thought because I tend to forget after a few second. I am able to write down certain words I could remember but I cannot expand on them quick enough for me to actually start a few sentences. Reading while taking side notes is one of the best way I have found that has help me in building words together to form sentences even if my thought sometimes gets clustered with so many ideas. When I do have more material for my papers I must stop what I am doing and quickly write them down before I forget, later I could go back to what I wrote and expand to make them into sentences and even paragraphs. There are also times where I could write down couple of things and just expand on them for a while but then it begins to fade and I must go back to the last few things I had writing to get inspired
As part of the college curriculum, we are taught to use the “creative thinking” process, a fundamental core teaching aspect that students are taught to use. This process is to develop the students understanding of the problem in front of them and come up with varied solutions to the problem, rather than the standard cookie-cutter solutions commonly given.
The process of writing papers can be very frustrating. You must first get your ideas together. Getting your ideas together can be one of the hardest parts of writing because you could possibly not know what di...
Using creativity in the classroom will create strong students and help better them for the future. Now, students are just being taught to what is on the test. They do not learn how to be leaders, how to work in groups, people skills, or how to use their mind that is not just for memorizing the information. “The challenge now is to transform education systems into something better suited to the real needs of the 21st century. At the heart of this transformation there has to be a radically different view of human intelligence and of creativity” (Robinson K., 2011, p. 14). Using creativity and technology will allow the students to enjoy learning more. I noticed in my final project, that other students who weren’t education majors, saw this problem too. Many of them did not see creativity in a classroom, they felt that the school system was creating them into robots that taught them all how to think a certain way. Ken Robinson feels that, “we don’t grow into creativity; we grow out of it. Often we are educated out of it.” (2011, p. 49). Teachers should be teaching students how to be creative, and how to think on their own, so students will be able to go far in the future and succeed in any job they
Wilson, V. (2000), Education Forum on Teaching Thinking Skills Online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/education/ftts.pdf Accessed at 22nd February 2014
“Memorizing math facts is the most important step to understanding math. Math facts are the building blocks to all other math concepts and memorizing makes them readily available” (EHow Contributor, 2011). To clarify, a math fact is basic base-10 calculation of single digit numbers. Examples of basic math facts include addition and multiplication problems such as 1 + 1, 4 + 5, 3 x 5 and their opposites, 2 – 1, 9 – 4, 15/5(Marques, 2010 and Yermish, 2011). Typically, these facts are memorized at grade levels deemed appropriate to a student’s readiness – usually second or third grade for addition and subtraction and fourth grade for multiplication and division.
When I sit down to write, I must do so in a clean, well-organized, and well-lit area. The space must be free from distractions, such as the television or radio, so that I am able to focus and gather my thoughts. I like to begin my writings similar to the way William Stafford says he starts, "To get started I will accept anything that occurs to me." Writing down any thought that will help support and provoke more thoughts and ideas. When my thoughts become cloudy, I like to rise from my seat and walk around speaking out ideas to myself. I find this practice helps to jumpstart my brain activity and clear my foggy mind.
Kirby, G.R. & Goodpaster, J.R. (2007) Creative Thinking. Fourth Edition Thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Some children find that mathematics is too abstract and does not connect to their daily life. They may find mathematics boring and irrelevant. Children who are forced to learn mathematics through rote memorization might find that they do not understand mathematical concepts and are unable to solve problems at a higher level as their foundation and grasp of basic math concepts are weak. Children who are forced to sit still and learn math by doing many worksheets may develop math anxiety and an aversion to numbers.
The Nature of Mathematics Mathematics relies on both logic and creativity, and it is pursued both for a variety of practical purposes and for its basic interest. The essence of mathematics lies in its beauty and its intellectual challenge. This essay is divided into three sections, which are patterns and relationships, mathematics, science and technology and mathematical inquiry. Firstly, Mathematics is the science of patterns and relationships. As a theoretical order, mathematics explores the possible relationships among abstractions without concern for whether those abstractions have counterparts in the real world.