Monday, July 30, 2012

Teaching: Right and Left Brain Power

In spite, of the universal knowledge of Right and Left brain people; there is still ignorance in our school system. I had heard that some schools used this method of teaching to the right and left brain, but it is not universal.
The right brain controls the artistic abilities of a person. A person with a predominant right brain over the left brain will be more artistic, creative and spontaneous. On the other hand, a person with a more active left brain as compared to the right brain will be more logical, precise, analytical and controlled.

My first realization of different teaching methods which the Education Community neglects to address, even today, took place when I was in the 4th grade.

Ms. Chamberlain was teaching us fractions. Being a visual artist by nature, the concept of abstract symbols representing numbers; did not compute when used with different abstract mathematical symbols of division.
Sitting in my old wooden school desk in Stuttgart, Germany on a military base,  I watched as the teacher took a piece of chalk and drew a circle on the board.
This is a "pie," she said.
It was a fairly boring pie to me, but none the less, I could understand a representation of a poorly drawn pie.
It was when she introduced fractions: abstract math symbols into my vision of a "pie." 

               Right brain meet Left brain.

She drew a line within the circle.
"This is  half  a pie," she said.
I felt safe as long as she didn't call on me to figure out what she was doing.
"Nancy, what fraction is this?" She asked.
Looking at the circle with a line drawn through it, I had no clue what she was talking about. I could still see a FULL circle with a line through it.  How can this be a fraction of a circle, if the circle is still present, I thought.
 When she drew a line through the center of the pie, she did not "erase" the other half of the pie to show that it was "cut off" and taken away.  It was still a complete circle, to me.
Maybe, the teacher's concept of a pie, was in a pie pan which explains the full circle.
After she cut the pie in half, maybe in her imagination, the pan was still there.

I remember the teacher walking around the room to my desk telling everyone that I was stupid.
No wonder I was always terrified of taking math.

What saved me in figuring out abstract symbols in math was Home Economics. Someone put a measuring cup in my hand with 1/4 and 1/2 marks on a cup.
 Visual application of math I could understand. Whether a construction project or a cake.

After all those years of shying away from anything to do with math: I find myself
enjoying financial news more than regular news;
and have done well choosing profitable stocks. 

After all those years of paying the bills, I have a visual concept of a budget; that
...no matter how many unsolicited, blank checks a bank or credit card
company sends me; this is no indication that there is money in that account.  

The Education Community needs to understand  that "to teach" is to begin by using a Student's "mental strengths" relying on the wiring of that student's brain.

Being a Right brain student, I would and could never understand the logic of a Left brain teacher.  
As a result, a teacher does more damage to a student's self esteem, and to their desire to learn.

The solution:  

       Identifying  Right and Left  brain students while
 
       having both, a Right  and  Left brain, "teachers" in the classroom, 
teaching students through the FULL brain power of the classroom.

A Right brain thinking teacher can go to the chalk board and explain an abstract method to the Right brain students, followed by and Visa versa; a Left brain thinking teacher, addressing the Left brain thinkers.

I would NOT depend on the Educational system to "split" up the Left brain and Right brain students because they would mistakenly misplace students in the wrong category. 

It would be "essential" for both types of students, Right and Left brain thinkers to be together in 

one classroom with 2 teachers because some students are "both" Right and Left brain thinkers; and

all students can benefit from seeing the differences in the teaching methods and may learn to 
think out of their box.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

The Election and Our American Economy


The economic Crisis started under the Clinton
Administration when Greenspan deregulated
the Mortgage Polices " spreading the Wealth syndrome"
 so the poor could buy a home when they could
 not realistically make Mortgage Payments.
 SPREADING THE WEALTH DOES NOT WORK.

Obama's Class Warfare is for Idiot Economics.

All Loopholes , including the ones Obama uses,
 as he bashes, other rich people for using them,
 should be CLOSED. He could have done
 that the first 2 years with a Democratic
 Congress.

EVERYONE is GREEDY. THE RICH,
 THE MIDDLE CLASS and THE POOR.
How can the Government have FAIR
 Polices and LAWS when Congressmen,
 including the President and Supreme
Court Justices have Benefit and Pension Plans that are
based on their Own Greed. One Political
term served (4-6 years) comes with a
"Full Life-Time Pension and Cadillac
Health Care plan."
Until recently all congressmen had,
 "insider trading" deals on the stock
 market.
It's "your Tax dollars" paying for it.

Obama uses a Political tactic, not
 an economical solution to win the
 White House.
He creates chaos (Class Warfare)
 among his subordinates; then he
 acts like their savior (food stamps
unemployment checks) by
pretending to fix a problem
 (unfair wealth) that he created.
This is how "Obama plans to survive."
He doesn't create jobs; only dependency.

But for America to Survive:
 Corporations (wealth) should be
taxed less, on "Conditions."
Create jobs in "America"
Pay higher wages, etc...
This makes America the
 greatest
country in the world.