The 11 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2011 by Maria Popova What it means to be human, how pronouns are secretly shaping our lives, and why we believe. After the year’s best children’s books, art and design books, photography books, science books, history books, and food books, the 2011 best-of series continues with the most compelling, provocative and thought-provoking psychology and philosophy books featured here this year. We spend most of our lives going around believing we are rational, logical beings who make carefully weighted decisions based on objective facts in stable circumstances. Of course, as both a growing body of research and our own retrospective experience demonstrate, this couldn’t be further from the truth. For the past three years, David McRaney’s cheekily titled yet infinitely intelligent You Are Not So Smart has been one of my favorite smart blogs, tirelessly debunking the many ways in which our minds play tricks on us and the false interpretations we have of those trickeries. Originally featured in November.
Skipping School Mindmapping: A Diagram is Worth a Thousand Thoughts « Novalawcity I often get frustrated when I’m brainstorming. Trying to come up with ideas, or see how related ideas interact can get very frustrating. Outlines and lists can work well, if your topic or interest is linear enough. But if not, what then? One technique I find very useful for this is called mindmapping. One reason for this is that it’s hard to find resources about mindmapping that don’t refer to or borrow from the approach of mindmapping’s creator, Tony Buzan (though Wikipedia traces similar techniques back to the 3rd century). What is a Mindmap? Mindmaps are diagrams that begin with a center word or concept, with lines connecting to related, subsidiary concepts. This is a mindmap about mindmapping. And here’s an example of a to-do list mindmap, also a MindMeister template. Some mindmaps aren’t so strictly hierarchical. Doing Mindmaps Because mindmapping is a creative endeavor, there are no absolute rules (though most applications require mindmaps to be hierarchical). My suggestions: 1. 2.
7 Brilliant Book Trailers by Kirstin Butler How to connect haberdashery to Zach Galifianakis in under three minutes. With a killer combination of animation, motion graphics and music, what’s not to love about book trailers? We couldn’t think of a thing, which is why we’ve rounded up seven of our favorites. Gorgeous production values and jaw-dropping papercraft animation earned the trailer for Going West by the New Zealand Book Council our top spot. The pages of Going West literally rise up to depict the world of mid-20th-century Auckland. We’re longtime admirers of Andrew Zuckerman’s ambitious projects, like the beautiful Bird series. Love something. Speaking of stars, we love this LOL-worthy trailer for the novel Lowboy featuring funnyman Zach Galifianakis. The actor trades identities with author John Wray, who plays an interviewer trying to find out about the book. It’s a clear winner in the cool-for-both-kids-and-parents genre, all in Kalman’s delightfully analog, decidedly non-Pixar style.
Point St. Charles is former 'Canada's toughest neighborhood' in new book Just three shorts month ago I moved to Point St. Charles, the mysterious neighbourhood bordering Verdun and St. Henri. I say mysterious because as a non-Montreal native, I literally knew nothing about the area (other than the rent is insanely cheap, hence my decision to move there). In comes the announcement for a book launch on my RSS feed for Kathy Dobson's first novel, With a Closed Fist: Growing up in Canada's toughest neighbourhood, a book promising to details life in The Point back in it's blue collar Irish class days. Written from her own 8-year-old perspective (and obviously based on what she experienced growing up), Dobson eases into her family's struggles growing up in Point St. Her mom's efforts lead to Dobson and two of her sisters (they are a family of 6 girls, in total) attending 'rich schools' in Westmount in an attempt to provide kids from Point St. For some far better insight, check out what The Gazette had to say. Header photo courtesy of Kathy Dobson's website.
The Bartleby Project Mind Mapping Software - Create Mind Maps online 5 Children's Books That Teach About Latino Culture In his recent article, How Global Language Learning Gives Students the Edge , Dan Fost says that in order for our country to regain a competitive edge in our global economy, our education system needs to provide “innovative tools and programs that promote cross-cultural understanding.” Helping our children to think globally improves their ability to look at a problem from multiple points of view – a definite advantage and valuable skill for academic success. One way to promote a global vision in our children is through reading. At the top of the list is "A Kid’s Guide to Latino History " by Valerie Petrillo. It is best suited for children ages 7 and up. An Illustrated Treasury of Latino Read-Aloud Stories " is a beautiful collection of 28 stories that truly reflect our Latino history, culture, and traditions. Music-loving families will enjoy the new book, "Under the Mambo Moon " by Julia Durango. "Shake It, Morena! by Carmen T. "My Havana:Memories of a Cuban Boyhood
What is the Nature of Your City? Across the world, cities are bringing back nature to help address urban challenges. We are healthier when we are closer to nature. We have a greater respect for the environment that sustains us. We are more adaptable to change when we let nature do its work. Join us for a free presentation by Dr. A Presentation on Biophilic Cities with Dr. January 18th, 2012 Portland Northwest College of Art - Swigert Commons 1241 NW Johnson Portland, OR 97209 This event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by: City of Portland's Environmental Services and Office of Healthy Working Rivers, Illahee, The Intertwine Alliance, and The Urban Greenspaces Institute Free to Learn: A Radical Experiment in Education (2006 Free to Learn is a 70 minute documentary that offers a “fly on the wall” perspective of the daily happenings at The Free School in Albany, New York. Like many of today’s radical and democratic schools, The Free School expects children to decide for themselves how to spend their days. The Free School, however, is unique in that it transcends obstacles that prevent similar schools from reaching a economically and racially diverse range of students and operates in the heart of an inner-city neighborhood. For over thirty years in perhaps the most radical experiment in American education, this small inner-city alternative school has offered its students complete freedom over their learning. Free to Learn follows a handful of these children courageously meeting the daily challenges of hope, acceptance, loss, friendship, conflict, and the difficult task of deciding, for themselves, what to do with each day. Arrange a Screening & Contact Filmmakers: freeschooldoc@gmail.com
HydraText Videos HydraText is a web-based system that enables teachers to share the bits and pieces that make up a textbook or supplement, assemble them in their own way, and output to pdf and the web. The Hydra for each subject is a library of materials you and others have added that you can then assemble into a book or supplement - like creating a playlist for your music player. You can copy and rearrange someone else's materials or just parts of them, and create your own and share with others. With a system for sharing and using the raw materials of textbooks, one can more easily teach a course in his or her own way, without spending days or weeks hunting, writing, and collating. The following videos show how it all works: If you are an instructor and wish to try the system out, please request an account using this email form. Hydra image in videos created by University of Wisconsin-Extension and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Pooktre book Knowledge to Grow Shaped Trees The 11 Best Science Books of 2011 by Maria Popova From Infinity to Fibonacci, or what religious mythology has to do with the inner workings of field science. After the year’s best illustrated books for (eternal) kids, art, design, and creativity books, and photography books, the 2011 best-of series continues with a look at the year’s most compelling science books, spanning everything from medicine to physics to quantum mechanics. (And before you raise an eyebrow at the absence of the social and “soft” sciences, know that an omnibus of the year’s best psychology and philosophy books is coming next week.) Rebecca Skloot is one of the finest science writers working today. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, one of five fantastic books about unsung heroes, she tells the story of a woman who unwittingly shaped contemporary science. Henrietta and David Lacks, circa 1945. Deborah Lacks at about age four. Margaret Gey and Minnie, a lab technician, in the Gey lab at Hopkins, circa 1951. Originally reviewed in July.
Derek’s Mission | Magical Teaching This all began when I arrived at my portable classroom on the edge of campus ready to change the world with my magical teaching. I did my best to document the experience, keeping a slapdash journal on my laptop and writing notes on MasterCard junk mail, overdraft notices from the bank, and membership petitions from my college alumni association. Twelve years later, Mr. Smith Is Magic – And Other Fantasies of a First Year Teacher is done. LouAnne Johnson, the wonderful woman behind Dangerous Minds, likes it! Ironically, I struggled with situating my story among “magical teaching” stories like Johnson’s. Maybe, I thought, I could do something to change that. This site is my attempt to make sense of what happened yesterday and years ago, to work with others to reshape the myth in some small way. This is real magical teaching. Derek Like this: Like Loading...