Blog 2: I think I can, I think I can....but it takes too long to think.

Chapters 1-2: Creative Connector:
1. "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people engage in it." (pp.4) I had good chuckle after the author wrote this because it is very true! Thinking takes time and effort and people would rather bypass the thinking stage and just be given the answer. In the text the author poses sample problems and asks the reader to solve them. One example is the question with the candle, tacks and matches. The problem is how does one light the candle and have it 5 ft off the ground without holding it. I read the question and comprehended it, I even thought for a whopping 15 seconds before giving up and reading the answer. The truth was I didn't want to think of the solution because it was "too hard." Most would chalk it up as laziness (which it might be a little too) but Willingham states that thinking takes much more time for the brain to do, so we try to do less of it.

2. "Using memory doesn't require much of your attention, so you are free to daydream, even as you're stopping at red lights, passing cars, watching for pedestrians, and so on." (pp. 7) The Author is explaining the brain and how memory (long term & short term) are quick and easy for it to do, while the act of thinking is slow and time consuming. This passage reminded me of the many times I had to drive to work at 7:00 am on Saturdays. It would still be dark out and I'd climb into my car and the next minute (or so it seemed) I had arrived at work. I actually asked myself one day, "Alex, how did you get here?" I had been daydreaming the whole time I was driving! My mind/ memory worked as an autopilot, so I was free to daydream. Believe it or not, this happens to me quite frequently...

3. "You may have experienced something similar when traveling, especially if you've traveled where you don't speak the local language. Everything is unfamiliar and even trivial actions demand lots of thought.....That's one reason why traveling is so tiring: all of the trivial actions that at home could be made on autopilot require your full attention." (pp. 8) I lived in Italy for a year and during that time I took the proximity to other European countries to my full advantage. On long weekends, I'd venture out of Italy and into France or Germany. However, I don't speak French or German! While I visited France I was forced to play an ugly game of charades in order for the French to understand what I wanted and needed. For instance, I walked into a bar (which also serves food) and wanted to express that I was hungry and wanted to eat. Something so trivial but I did not know the verb "to eat" in French. So I first tried Italian "mangiare? mangio?" but they didn't understand.  Then, I resorted to the next best thing, closing my hands around an imaginary hamburger and biting into it while saying "eat" and then rubbing my tummy "hungry". To this the man understood and then brought me a menu. My brain really had to think of how to get the things I needed because this country was new to me and I couldn't run on memory or autopilot.

Idea Illustrator:
1.
Curiosity - Willingham writes about the necessity of "hooking" our students. We have to make our students curious so they want to learn and think. I chose this picture of the cat peeking up and over the frame not just because it's cute but because we want our students to be like that cat. As educators we should be able to give them a challenging yet solvable problem and they should be curious enough to want to solve it.

2. Einstein - Willingham describes a poster in his dorm depicting Einstein's quote, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." The author disproves this quote in chapter 2 by saying that without having previous knowledge of something, one couldn't possibly be able to imagine anything. Background knowledge, even shallow knowledge, is necessary.

3.  crossword - The last image I chose is the New York Times crossword. Willingham specifically mentions this crossword in the text when he states that, " If the student routinely gets work that is a bit too difficult, it's little wonder that he doesn't care much for school. I wouldn't want to work on the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle for several hours each day." (pp. 13) Teachers need to challenge their students but within the student's level of comprehension.


Alex Pergolizzi