Ten Virtues for the Modern Age The Virtues Project comes as a response to the wave of discussion and feedback that followed the publication of my book, Religion for Atheists, and a growing sense that being virtuous has become a strange and depressing notion, while wickedness and evil bask in a peculiar kind of glamour. My ultimate aim for the project is that it ignites a vital conversation around moral character to increase public interest in becoming more virtuous and connected as a society. In the modern world, the idea of trying to be a ‘good person’ conjures up all sorts of negative associations: of piety, solemnity, bloodlessness and sexual renunciation, as if goodness were something one would try to embrace only when other more difficult but more fulfilling avenues had been exhausted. Throughout history, societies have been interested in fostering virtues, in training us to be more virtuous, but we're one of the first generations to have zero public interest in this. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Various Knowledge Sharing Formats for Your Team Collaborative Learning Years ago, I asked a friend why he chose a company to work at. He answered, “When I was an intern there, the CTO recommends articles to read and encourages us to have brownbag lunch (sharing session) once a week.”. That time, I was transformed into a firm believer in the power of personal development activities. It is such a blessing that Dekoruma shares similar vision and support this kind of learning culture. That’s why Dekoruma Engineering Team has our sharing session once a week. #1 — Internal Talk One (or more) team member shares a topic to others. #2 — Lecture-from-neighbours Along with new knowledge we get, knowing what other divisions are doing increases our empathy towards them. #3 — Focus Group Discussion This is my favorite! Instead of splitting the team in random, Moderator could split based on participants’ background and expertise so they can relate well with the topic being discussed. Captain Obvious. OK. Other ideas Our team never try this, but these are my wishlist:
www.huhmagazine.co Freelance journalist Jill Harness has put together a list of the 62 most beautiful libraries in the world for Mental Floss. After collecting images of these grand buildings over the years, Harness decided that the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland, was deserving of the top spot (picture below), saying: "Aside from being absolutely gorgeous, with two story dark wooden arches, this is also the largest library in all of Ireland. It serves as the country’s copyright library, where a copy of all new books and periodicals must be sent when they apply for copyright protection. Clementinum National Library, Czech Republic www.mentalfloss.com
8 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Concentrating “Music helps me concentrate,” Mike said to me glancing briefly over his shoulder. Mike was in his room writing a paper for his U.S. History class. On his desk next to his computer sat crunched Red Bulls, empty Gatorade bottles, some extra pocket change and scattered pieces of paper. In the pocket of his sweat pants rested a blaring iPod with a chord that dangled near the floor, almost touching against his Adidas sandals. On his computer sat even more stray objects than his surrounding environment. Mike made a shift about every thirty seconds between all of the above. Do you know a person like this? The Science Behind Concentration In the above account, Mike’s obviously stuck in a routine that many of us may have found ourselves in, yet in the moment we feel it’s almost an impossible routine to get out of. When we constantly multitask to get things done, we’re not multitasking, we’re rapidly shifting our attention. Phase 1: Blood Rush Alert Phase 2: Find and Execute Phase 3: Disengagement
Öğretmenlerin değişimine yol açan mesleki gelişim eğitimleri : Beşi Bir Yerde Yaz dönemi öncesi, sırası ve sonrasında, öğretmenlere yönelik seminerler, hizmet içi eğitimler ya da mesleki gelişim programları hazırlanır. Öğretmen olarak bazısına katılmanız zorunludur. Bazısına para ödeyerek katılırsınız. Bazısının havalı isminden ya da eğitimcinin karizmasından etkilenirsiniz. Peki katıldığınız eğitimler gerçekten etkili mi? Etkiliyse neye etkili? Kuramsal modeller, mesleki gelişim programlarının etkili olduğunu, öğretmene kattığıyla ölçer. Bu çıktılardan birinde ya da birkaçında değişime yol açan mesleki gelişim eğitimleri, etkili mesleki gelişim eğitimleridir. Seminer dönemleri, mesleki gelişim için fırsatlardır. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Son 20 senedir bu özellikler üzerine araştırmalar yapılıp, hangisinin en önemli olduğu incelenmiştir. Evet, eğitimlerin alan bilgisine odaklanması en etkili özelliktir. Tabii ki mesleki gelişim eğitimlerinde “beşi bir yerde” bulmak zor! Mesleki gelişimin bu beş özelliği öğretmenlere ne anlatıyor? Kaynakça 1.
The Ten Most Revealing Psych Experiments Psychology is the study of the human mind and mental processes in relation to human behaviors - human nature. Due to its subject matter, psychology is not considered a 'hard' science, even though psychologists do experiment and publish their findings in respected journals. Some of the experiments psychologists have conducted over the years reveal things about the way we humans think and behave that we might not want to embrace, but which can at least help keep us humble. 1. The Robbers Cave Experiment is a classic social psychology experiment conducted with two groups of 11-year old boys at a state park in Oklahoma, and demonstrates just how easily an exclusive group identity is adopted and how quickly the group can degenerate into prejudice and antagonism toward outsiders. Researcher Muzafer Sherif actually conducted a series of 3 experiments. 2. This infamous experiment to plumb the depths of evil in human hearts ended up affecting its lead researcher as much as its subjects. 3. 4.
50 Alternatives To Lecturing by TeachThought Staff As teachers, when we lecture, we have the best of intentions. We have a concept we want the class to understand, so we stand and explain it to them. We give them background. Offer details. Anticipate and pre-empt common misconceptions. So explaining things isn’t ‘bad,’ so how about beginning with some clarification. Everyone loves a story, and unless you’re awful, your students probably like you and want to hear from you. Or in a ‘flipped classroom’ setting where the ‘lecture’ is designed to be consumed at the student’s own pace (using viewing strategies, for example). Or when students have mastered a core set of understandings, and are ready–in unison–to hear something from an honest-to-goodness expert who only has an hour to unload what he/she knows. All students are similarly motivated All students have mastered certain ‘listening strategies’ All students have a similar background knowledge The List of Alternatives To Lectures For Teachers So then, the list. 1. 2.
47 Mind-Blowing Psychological Facts You Should Know About Yourself I’ve decided to start a series called 100 Things You Should Know about People. As in: 100 things you should know if you are going to design an effective and persuasive website, web application or software application. Or maybe just 100 things that everyone should know about humans! The order that I’ll present these 100 things is going to be pretty random. So the fact that this first one is first doesn’t mean that’s it’s the most important.. just that it came to mind first. Dr. <div class="slide-intro-bottom"><a href=" Professional Development Activities for Teachers: Jigsaw Technique and Alternatives Many principals use professional journal articles and books to help build their teachers’ shared knowledge about best practices and site-specific improvement initiatives. Perhaps the most common method for doing this is the jigsaw — dividing up the reading among the members of the staff, taking time for individual reading, then inviting each person to share out to the full group. A second common strategy is to assign specific chapters or sections to departments or grade levels, asking each group to read the selection on their own before the meeting and make a formal presentation on their section when their turn comes up. Both methods can work well if used sparingly and done well, but they also have drawbacks. Here are some ideas for getting the most out of a jigsaw. How to maximize a traditional jigsaw The extra step in a full jigsaw — one that makes the strategy much more powerful, but is often skipped in the interest of time — is to create an “expert group.”
The Value of Play II: How Play Promotes Reasoning in Children and Adults Twenty years ago, a pair of researchers in England reported on a series of experiments in which they showed that very young children could, in the context of play, solve logic problems that they seemed unable to solve in a serious context. The problems they used were syllogisms, the classic type of logic problem described originally by Aristotle. A syllogism requires a person to combine the information in two premises to decide if a particular conclusion is true, false, or indeterminate (cannot be determined from the premises). Syllogisms are generally easy when the premises coincide with concrete reality, but are more difficult when the premises are counterfactual (contradictions to reality). The prevailing belief at the time that the British researchers conducted these experiments was that the ability to solve counterfactual syllogisms depends on a type of reasoning that is completely lacking in young children. All cats bark (major premise).
10 Fun Alternatives to Think-Pair-Share All learners need time to process new ideas and information. They especially need time to verbally make sense of and articulate their learning with a community of learners who are also engaged in the same experience and journey. In other words, kids need to talk!! These five discussion techniques (and a little purposeful planning) go beyond the traditional Turn and Talk/Think-Pair-Share to give students an opportunity to deepen their understanding while practicing their verbal skills. 1. This technique is great for collaborating and generating many ideas on a topic. Arrange students into pairs (teacher or student choice).Pose a question that has many possible answers. 2. A great activity to get kids up and moving and encourage them to interact with all of their classmates . Students mix around the room silently as music plays in the background.When the music stops, each student finds a partner closest to them (no running across the room to find your best friend!) 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Test-Taking Cements Knowledge Better Than Studying, Researchers Say The research, published online Thursday in the journal Science, found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who used two other methods. One of those methods — repeatedly studying the material — is familiar to legions of students who cram before exams. The other — having students draw detailed diagrams documenting what they are learning — is prized by many teachers because it forces students to make connections among facts. These other methods not only are popular, the researchers reported; they also seem to give students the illusion that they know material better than they do. In the experiments, the students were asked to predict how much they would remember a week after using one of the methods to learn the material. Several cognitive scientists and education experts said the results were striking. The final group took a “retrieval practice” test.