"Find the Metaphor"

Journal:

Consider how you think in metaphors.

What are metaphors that reoccur for you?


Read Harvard Business Review:

How Strategists Really Think: Tapping the Power of Analogy
PRESENTATIONS "Finding the Right Metaphor for Your Presentation"
by Nancy Duarte November 17, 2014



SPOILER: This clip occurs at the end of Moneyball (2011)



Perhaps, one of the greatest speeches and metaphors in American History...

PDF - Teddy Roosevelt "The Man in the Arena"
Speech at the Sorbonne - Paris, France April 23, 1910

The Famous Quote:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 

MIT's Joi Ito on Being a "NOW-IST"

I want to introduce you to the Director of MIT's Media Lab,

columnist to Wired magazine,

and author of one of my favorite recent books:

Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future Kindle Edition by Joi Ito

The conclusion to this TED Talk:

I'm a three-time college dropout, so learning over education is very near and dear to my heart, but to me, education is what people do to you and learning is what you do to yourself.

 10:15 (Applause)

10:19 And it feels like, and I'm biased, it feels like they're trying to make you memorize the whole encyclopedia before they let you go out and play, and to me, I've got Wikipedia on my cell phone, and it feels like they assume you're going to be on top of some mountain all by yourself with a number 2 pencil trying to figure out what to do when in fact you're always going to be connected, you're always going to have friends, and you can pull Wikipedia up whenever you need it, and what you need to learn is how to learn. In the case of Safecast, a bunch of amateurs when we started three years ago, I would argue that we probably as a group know more than any other organization about how to collect data and publish data and do citizen science.

11:02 Compass over maps. So this one, the idea is that the cost of writing a plan or mapping something is getting so expensive and it's not very accurate or useful. So in the Safecast story, we knew we needed to collect data, we knew we wanted to publish the data, and instead of trying to come up with the exact plan, we first said, oh, let's get Geiger counters. Oh, they've run out. Let's build them. There aren't enough sensors. Okay, then we can make a mobile Geiger counter. We can drive around. We can get volunteers. We don't have enough money. Let's Kickstarter it. We could not have planned this whole thing, but by having a very strong compass, we eventually got to where we were going, and to me it's very similar to agile software development, but this idea of compasses is very important.

11:45 So I think the good news is that even though the world is extremely complex, what you need to do is very simple. I think it's about stopping this notion that you need to plan everything, you need to stock everything, and you need to be so prepared, and focus on being connected, always learning, fully aware, and super present.

12:08 So I don't like the word "futurist." I think we should be now-ists, like we are right now.

Excellent article! #mustread @Joi @medialab #whiplash #learningovereducation #resilienceoverstrength #pulloverpush #riskoversafety #systemsoverobjects #compassovermaps #practiceovertheory #disobedienceovercompliance #emergenceoverauthority https://t.co/1c1zay4uS6 pic.twitter.com/bqiEVvFXBH

— Kevin James O'Brien (@KOB14) March 27, 2018

Watch “@Joi Ito’s 9 Principles of the @medialab” on #Vimeo at MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference https://t.co/uJeSS1fn5a pic.twitter.com/CZlbwpxMT9

— Kevin James O'Brien (@KOB14) March 27, 2018

READ MORE - and WHY!

Reading matters for many reasons...

For starters, think about this fact:

"You will be as successful as your vocabulary."

READ MORE: Kelly Corrigan speaks about reading in a persuasive way.

Here are a few notes and quotes...


#1 Vocabulary predicts career success. 

• 33% of high school graduates and 42% of College graduates never read a book again.
• Reading is a neurobiological workout for the brain. Read for the words. 
• Reading has the same physiological benefits as meditation.
• Add two million words by reading 30 minutes a day in a year...100,000 new words per year. Retain a hundred new words a year at least.
• Words are your own personal arsenal. 
• How we communicate...How we behave - who we are. "It all starts with word choice." 
• Make a meaningful connection to others - emotional intelligence begins with word choice. 

 “I am just as deaf as I am blind.  The problems of deafness are deeper and more complex.  Deafness is a much worse misfortune.  For it means the loss of the most vital stimulus – the sound of the voice that brings language, sets thoughts astir, and keeps us in the intellectual company of men.” –Helen Keller


Do you know these words from Kelly Corrigan's TED Talk?

Independent Reading Project: Selling Reading

Independent Reading Project:

Selling the idea that we read what we want to read (not what we "have to" read).



 Watch this video.

It makes English teachers cry (in the beginning)...

Penny Kittle argues students should choose what they read: 

"I believe each of my students must craft an individual reading life of challenge, whim, curiosity, and hunger. I believe in the collecting, noticing, living work of designing lessons to empower writers. I believe teachers provide vision for students; we live a belief in their success every day we teach." 

Check out these lists (please share more lists below): 

33 Early American Literature Novels

Popular AP Literature Books 

Popular Summer Reading Books 

View this Flipboard Magazine for more articles on reading.

Read a real paper book or go "Airplane" mode - avoid technology distractions.

 

See: READ MORE

 
Who is Stephen Downes? Check out his simple blog.


Checkout these great project possibilities plus projects with a great rubric.

Consider this final project option....

Design a project in the shop. In addition, write an object label (as they do in a gallery or museum), letting visitors know:

1.     The artist's name – that’s you.

2.     The title of the work.

3.     The medium of the work.

4.     The size of the work.

5.     And a didactic text: interpretive/educational texts related to an exhibition, usually written by exhibition curators. 
Also, the price of the work (if applicable).

A Few Tips on Reading in a Digital Age

Remember your success will be determined by your vocabulary which is determined by your reading...

Please consider doing the following:

1. Please suspend or limit your Netflix and curtail your gaming, social media, Snapchat, etc. 

2. Check out this article: These Apps Help You Realize How Much Time You Waste On Your Phone

3. Read with your iPhone on "Airplane Mode" 

From HBR's "Conquer Digital Distractions" - PDF: 

1. Wean yourself from digital devices.

• Allow yourself to check all digital communications, but then shut everything down and silence your phone.

• Set an alarm for 15 minutes.

• When it rings, give yourself one minute for a tech check-in.

• Repeat this process until you’re comfortable increasing your off-grid time to an hour or several hours.

2. Take breaks every 90 minutes.

Our brains work in 90-minute rest-activity cycles, so we need to pause and recharge every hour and a half or so. This is especially true if we’re multitasking with technology, which leads to cognitive overload.

The following activities have a calming effect and will give your brain the break it needs:

• Walk in nature for 10 minutes.

• Listen to music.

• Look at art.

• Exercise.

• Meditate.

3. Keep technology out of your bedroom.

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) and Mayo Clinic agree that the use of blue-light-emitting LED devices is detrimental to sleep—a critical period that cements what you learned during the day, while removing useless information.

So try their recommendations for unplugging to see what works best for you.

The goal is to block the release of neurotransmitters that energize your brain and instead promote the production of melatonin, which allows you to rest.

THE NSF’S APPROACH - Abstain from devices starting one hour before bedtime.

MAYO CLINIC’S APPROACH

• Dim screens used at night.

• Keep screens 14 inches from your face.

• Remove screens from the room when you’re ready to sleep.

Listen to Note to Self Podcast: "Screens Really are a Nightmare for Sleep"

May we suggest a holiday activity for the family? Sleep... without screens. (Dec 24, 2014)

4. Read old school paper books (with a pen/pencil to annotate and to use as a reading guide).

Recommended listening - about reading:

From Note to Self Podcast:

"There's Just Something About Paper"

Reading on screens is changing your brain and making it harder to finish a thick book. Here's what to do about it. (Jun 10, 2015)

"The 'Bi-literate' Brain: The Key to Reading in a Sea of Screens"

How should you read? Paper or screen? Your brain wants to choose one. Switching back and forth may not be effective. That is, unless you can develop your 'bi-literate' brain.  (Sep 17, 2014)

"The Case for Infomagical"

All of the information you need about information overload. (Jan 25, 2016)

"A Neuroscientist’s Guide to Getting Organized (Plus: Survey!)"

If you had to guess, how many facts have you taken in today? Dr. Daniel Levitin says it's probably way too many to process. (Jan 6, 2016)

From The PBS NewsHour:

"Your devices are probably ruining your productivity. Here’s why"

The habit of multitasking could lower your score on an IQ test and cause other cognitive deficits. (Oct 17, 2016)

Satire and Fake News

"There is no use in multiplying examples. The point is that we are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield."

- George Orwell, "In Front of Your Nose"

In order to combat fake news and misinformation, we need to know our journalists and sources for information.

Read:
Fake News http://flip.it/j.5_zA
via @flipboard

OR this Flipboard magazine https://flipboard.com/topic/fakenews

(I look forward to adding your examples to this Flipboard magazine)

Watch this clip of Mr. Clint Watts about why we need to be educated global citizens:

The Russia influence system continues to win. Before and after the election.https://t.co/4l7jI673f1 from @WarOnTheRocks pic.twitter.com/8HvHJz5mwn

— Clint Watts (@selectedwisdom) January 11, 2017 

Watch the full hearing from this weekend.



HOMEWORK:

Write three paragraphs - with three examples of articles, regarding FAKE NEWS

Normally, I would like...

 Worthy Sources - that are PRIMARILY PRINT
(not cable broadcast networks, blogs, websites, etc.):

The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal (need a subscription), The Washington Post,

Scientific American, Nature, National Geographic,

The American Scholar, The Atlantic Monthly,

Foreign Policy, The New Yorker, Harper's,

The Paris Review, Wired, etc.

HOWEVER for this assignment (three paragraphs total):

1. Please post one reliable news source about Fake News
2. One example of satire 
3. One example of fake news

Check out this EXTENSIVE GOOGLE DOC list of fake, satire, and reliable news sites.

Three complete paragraphs - each one should include the following:

1. Embed the links - type (or copy and paste) "select" the title of the article and link
2. Cite the writer(s), the date, and the source (the "publisher")
3. One sentence synopsis of each article.
4. Conclusion:

• Why is it important to discern between credible news and faux news?
• Why did you select your articles and how did you determine them to be credible, satirical, or fake?

Consider these key questions:

• Who paid for this?
• When was this made?
• Who might benefit?
• What is left out of this message that might be important to know?
• How was this shared with the public? 

To fact check stories on the internet:

snopes.com
politifact.com



factcheck.org

The Shapes of Stories by Kurt Vonnegut

In order to understand a story, a plot diagram or visual storytelling can illustrate the exposition, rising action, plot points, reversals of fortune, climax, falling action, denouement, and resolution.

While dramatic structure has been analyzed by Aristotle to Gustav Freytag and his pyramid to Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey."

Freytag's Pyramid from mrmadden

Kurt Vonnegut, however, may be the master of graphing the shapes of stories.

by mayaeilam.

From Visually.

How to Write a Short Story according to Kurt Vonnegut

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.