professornana (professornana) wrote,
professornana
professornana

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Why I love the Kindle

Okay, I have mentioned my new toy a few times in postings. The department bought each of us a Kindle. They took 6 months to arrive, but they are soooo worth the wait. I read A WHOLE NEW MIND on the Kindle. It was the first book I downloaded, one I had meant to get to for some time. Having ti so handy was one of the reasons I flew through it. Seeing it only a few paragraphs at a time and not looking at how thick it was, I think, also helped in the reading department as I am now a huge reader of non-fiction. I have this feeling that using the Kindle with reluctant readers will be incredibly motivating and I am trying to convince some of my pals to work with me on getting some grant $$$ to purchase some for some research. But, about the book...




Friend and colleague Kylene Beers recommended this book to me some time ago. It is definitely one of those books that like THE WORLD IS FLAT has repercussions for us in education. Since I read this on the Kindle, I was able to make highlights that turn into a file of clippings. Instead of dog-eared pages and post-it flags, I have a file of those items that caught my attention or that I wanted to use somehow in my own writing and thinking and reading. Pink's premise is that we need to develop a whole new mind in this era of outsourcing in order to prepare for the workforce of tomorrow. Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning. These are the qualities that will lead us to be more productive even in a world where jobs are being sent overseas. Does not reflect the high stakes testing world of most US classrooms, right? He cites tons of research in different arenas (neuropsychology, architecture, technology, etc.) to support his central thesis. One thing that immediately caught my eye was this: improving a school's environment could increase test scores as much as 11%. I am still processing this book. However, I do know I will pull his 6 foci into my new book in some way.

And now, back to vacation. We plan to spend most of today reading and enjoying the view. Tomorrow is an all day tour of the island.
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