Teaching is a creative profession

Sir Ken Robinson: "How to escape education's death valley." Brilliant plea for education functioning as an organic system and providing the right conditions for our natural curiosity and creativity to flourish. Teaching is a creative profession...

Treasures Of Timbuktu - Mali

Treasures of Timbuktu. These handwritten texts are seen as the carriers of culture and are treated with the greatest respect. This impressive film can give people with dyslexia a new look at the benefits of written text...

RI Teacher Says"I Quit!"

One creative considerate and passionate teacher in USA has had enough of "creating test-takers" and can not see any room for his desire to create life-long learners. He quits - and explains why.

Taare Zameen Par, Like Stars on Earth (2007) Full Movie English Subtitle

Wonderful and touching movie about dyslexic boy who gets help from his art teacher.

'Why phonics tests spell trouble.' Brilliant article!

In the Independer a brilliant article was published on 'Why phonics tests spell trouble'. I agree with the writer that it is silly to test children with words that have no meaning, as reading is all about meaning. In Holland the same mistake is made, but only with testing for dyslexia. With nonsense words you get no meaning, no picture. So in order to read a nonsense word you have to shut out your need for meaning, which is contradictory to 'reading'. The only thing the kids learn is reading without understanding what you read. Find the article at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/why-phonics-tests-spell-trouble-8364917.html

New book (in Dutch) about picture thinking: 'Pictures in your head'

NOW AVAILABLE!

Picture thinkers can rapidly change perspective and see something in mind from all sides. The big picture and the details simultaneously.They function in a different way because their thinking is creative and diverse. They employ picture thinking. Everyone can think in pictures, but some people who are better at it than other people we call picture thinkers. Picture thinking engages imagination multidimensionally. It moves along various levels of perception and through more dimensions, as opposed to thought that moves in a lineair sequence. Lot Blom (1950), expert in multidimensional thinking, is healer and coach for persons with visual-spatial and associative thought, so called picture thinkers. After years of working with Davis Counseling, Tomatis Listening Therapy and HeartMath Heart Coherence, she developed the integrative approach she explains in this book. ISBN: 97890 202 08184 € 14,95 ISBN ebook: 97890 202 08191 € 11,99. Paperback, 160 pagina’s. Uitgave Ankh-Hermes VBKMedia.

Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was a great humanist and educator who formed most of the educational system as we know it and gained great recognition around the world. 'Learning something when you are ready for it' and 'learning with all the senses' are strong components of her teaching system, which is very suitable for picture thinkers. Maria Montessori (August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) (partly shared from Tomatis Athens)

Colors, images and music

Tonight listened and looked at Hélène Grimaud, who performed the second piano concerto by Brahms in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. She plays flexible and yet powerful. It's a fascinating conversation between the piano and the orchestra. The conductor, Markus Stenz, forms the connection. He has an exuberant expression that made me see the music in colors. My thoughts wander around and are focused simultaneously. Music brings the picture thinking on a higher level. Synaesthesia, the experience of all the senses together.

Pictures in your head. A manual for picture thinkers

Picture thinking is a fast, associative way of thinking, where imagination and feeling play a major role. Everyone can think in pictures, but people often prefer linear thinking, where a strict sequence persists. Picturethinking takes multiple steps at once, giving faster and more frequently acces to multiple dimensions than with line thinking. That explains how a picture thinker can have a refreshing look at something, oversee a situation at a glance and come up with original solutions. Picture thinking is useful and fun. But people who have a preference for this thinking style often get labeled as "dyslexic" or "busy in the head". It is high time that the qualities of picture thinkers should be counted for in education and teaching. Thinking differently means educate and learn differently. This book provides a wealth of information and tips for parents and teachers, but especially for those who want to explore their own talent for moredimensional thinking. Author Lot Blom. Editor Ankh-Hermes VBKMedia. Utrecht, Netherlands ISBN 9789020208184 Dutch edition appears in October 2012. English translation in progress.

Sensory experience is good for the brain

Another advantage of being a picture thinker: sensory experience turns out to be rewarding! We already knew that the brain forms itself according to how we use it and the circumstances we live in. The senses play a big role. Every good pedagogue knows that sensory experience enhances learning. Good to see that science proves them right: Max Planck Florida Institute Study shows that persistent sensory experience is good for the aging brain. "Despite a long-held scientific belief that much of the wiring of the brain is fixed by the time of adolescence, a new study shows that changes in sensory experience can cause massive rewiring of the brain, even as one ages. In addition, the study found that this rewiring involves fibers that supply the primary input to the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that is responsible for sensory perception, motor control and cognition. These findings promise to open new avenues of research on brain remodeling and aging." Published in the May 24, 2012 issue of Neuron, the study was conducted by researchers at the Max Planck Florida Institute (MPFI) and at Columbia University in New York. http://www.maxplanckflorida.org/press.html?newsid=129

Dr. Georgi Lozanov, father of accelerated learning, passed away

The Bulgarian psychiatrist and educator Lozanov was one of the first to recognize that humans have untapped learning power within their subconscious that can be harnessed to help people grow. For picture thinkers his ideas are interesting because he accepted the important role imagination plays in the learning proces. He explained how learning becomes easy in an environment where love, positive emotions, joy and relaxed concentration are possible. The student must be free to choose how to learn, as a spontaneous feeling. The teacher should trust himself and the capacities of the student. He said language ought to be treated as a living organism and not be isolated and cut in pieces. Education should involve beauty and arts. His educational theory and practice were examined by UNESCO in the late 1970s and proved to be effective. This triggered the 'accelerated learning' movement.

visualizing bananas

i.imgur.com/et72e.jpg

Suppose it is normal to be different

Trudy Dehue is a scientist and a philosopher at the University of Groningen. With her talk she wants to raise the question: suppose it is normal to be different. More and more people live with psychiatric diagnoses such as autism, ADHD or PDD-NOS. But what is a disorder? The given criteria are descriptive. Meeting these criteria is not the same as having symptoms of a disorder.'Our neurobiological make-up is much more complex than we thought,' says Dehue. Refreshing and inspiring TEDtalk.

Great results of picture thinking: Dutch Design Week

During the Dutch Design Week from 23 until 31 October, the Department of Industrial Design at the Eindhoven University of Technology shows the work of the Master's graduates plus a selection of Bachelor's and Master's projects. With the exhibition ID’10, the Department invites the public to experience through interactive prototypes, what our society could be like in the (near) future.
Learning arithmetics using your body, 'exhibiting 2.0' to enhance communication between generations, or eliciting repetitive curiosity in public spaces: Industrial Design can change your world. For example, Sensible Music from Stefan Zwegers decreases the risk of music-induced hearing loss by letting one feel the beat of the music on a MP3-player, and meanwhile reducing the volume. Tactile Texting from Guust Hilte enables people to input text one handedly during activities like cycling or walking, when they are not able to look at the screen. Cueb from Connie Golsteijn is an interactive digital photo medium which allows parents and teenagers to explore individual and shared experiences, thus triggering an exchange of stories. http://w3.id.tue.nl

Biofeedback technique eases musicians' anxiety

AAPB Study shows dramatic improvement in Performance Anxiety Reduction for Musicians, with bonus side benefits.

The study showed a 71% decrease in performance anxiety in the feedback group compared with the control group. The feedback group had a 62% improvement in performance. The musicians in the feedback group also said they had an overall increased sense of calmness, slept better, were more relaxed and had less anger! in their everyday lives.

Full Article: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/06/musical-performance-anxiety-stage-fright.html