Zen Habits - 100 days without goals

100 days without goals.......could do me some good.

100 days

Where the 1% Live

Where the 1% Live

Interesting Geographic Research

Creativity in Education

A whole other dimension to education. I tend to think of myself as not very creative. My sister is the creative one in the family. I did well in the traditional school setting. My sister didn't. But watch this video and it explains why. Now I have to wonder if I would have been more creative if I were exposed to it more early in life. The future of society seems to be moving into the digital age and the kids who have the creative minds are those who are successful early in life. Think about many of the smartest successful people in tech companies are extremely creative. For instance, Bill Gates left college and he has done pretty well for himself.


TED Conference Video - Ken Robinson on Creativity and Education

Education

Today I got to witness my sister in action while homeschooling. My son participated with his cousins. I was really impressed at how my sister could jump from child to child at different age levels and keep up with what she was teaching to each. That takes some real talent. I was also impressed at the curriculum that she was teaching her 8th grader....some topics that I don't ever remember learning. Maybe at some point I learned it but it is amazing how much you forget along the way when you continue learning. I guess we take with us what impacts us or interests us the most as we continue our education into college. For me, I was always interested in history and geography so I retained much of that. But between Science and Literature, I don't really remember so much. I learned more about Literature in college than I ever did in high school. 

I attended a rural high school where there was a wide range of learning capabilities of the students in each class. There was no Advanced Placement courses and the college prep courses were not very preparatory. I never realized how poor the education I received was until I moved to Texas and went to start college. In Texas, you have to take a college entrance exam to even start school. So, I studied for the test and many items in math were not even taught at my school. I had to try to teach myself, which was not my strongest ability at the time. I ended up passing the Reading Comprehension and Writing sections and got a passing grade in Math but not high enough to get into College Algebra. I ended up taking remedial math at the community college I attended. Much of what I learned in that class, I had never experienced in high school algebra. I am fairly good at math and ended up taking many other math courses in order to obtain a Bachelor of Science instead of one in Arts. 

I also have to say that I had a great experience going to community college before attending university for a couple main reasons. 

1. Community college is significantly cheaper per course than universities. I was paying for my education through student loans and wanted to get as many cheap courses as possible. 

2. The classes are much smaller for your general curriculum courses than at a state university. Many courses are no larger than 50 students while the same course at a university would have 400 students. 

3. More dedicated teachers who actually have the main focus on teaching students instead of working on published their research. The faculty would spend extra time with students when they had questions, more than at the university. 

4. Non traditional students are perfect candidates for community college. When I started school in 1998, I was already married and was working a part time job. I had no interest in living on campus, joining sororities, or partaking in the college party scene. I was paying for my college education and I wanted to get the most out of the educational experience as possible. 

I am sure there are many more reasons that community college is a good choice for others but these are what have continued my high regard for the system. Of course, some are going to be better than others but overall I had a great experience at mine. 

In 2008, I began a non-traditional MBA program which was accelerated and that also worked well for me. The program had very diverse and focused working adults who many were juggling families, work, and education. My son had just turned 1 year old when I started the program. While this was very difficult to juggle all the commitments, I was able to do so with the support of my husband who took on a huge role in our son's life. Having a great support system and the encouragement of others is a major reason I was able to accomplish many of my goals. 

I also understand that while both these paths worked well for me, they might not work for other students. Some students, especially those who go straight to college after high school, lack the motivation needed to succeed in such learning environments. 

My goal is to give my children the ability to have a secondary education that actually prepares them for the academics of college. But more importantly, gives them the skills to be productive, caring, well adjusted adults, who are able to find their passion in life. And live their life with a sense of purpose and respect for others. 

Thanksgiving and Life

I know it is a little late to be talking about the formal Thanksgiving but I believe in giving thanks year-round. Not to say that I am always thankful, I do have my bad days when things look gloomier than they actually are. However, I always come back to how thankful I am to have kids, love, family, and friends. No money can replace these and for many of us, the quest for a normal life has led to the fact that there is no such thing as a "normal" life. We all live differently and all have different situations but one thing is common. I love the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson "What lies behind us and what lies in front of us are tiny matter compared to what lies within us." Now, not everyone agrees that Emerson was the person who first stated this quote. Controversy aside, I read this quote every day and still never tire of its message. 


Check out other quotes at BrainyQuote.com


Read the controversy at Quote Investigator

My First Post

Not really even sure how to get this started. I would like to use this blog as a creative outlet and as a way to discuss various topics. I will just let this evolve as it goes....welcome!