Reflection: Math

Is math class a Left Brain or Right Brain thought process? In my opinion, it is mostly L.Brain. Just think about it: you look at the problem, take the proper steps to solving it, write it down, box it in. Very textual, very logical. But there is an occasional R.Brain math problem: there is sometimes more than one way to solve a problem. You have to be creative to slove some of them.

On a quick note, none of my posts have been saving lately, so I'm a little ticked because this is for a grade and because I have to re-type all the syuff I've said recently :( so I;m gonna get started on that.

No quote this post.

A-Websta

Portfolio: Symphony

This week in class we are reading Daniel Pink's chapter about Symphony. He defines symphony as "the ability to put together the pieces. It is the capacity to synthesize rather than analyze......to invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to pair." I completely agree with him, and I am writing my Wikified Research Paper on this chapter in fact. I will write a ton more about this subject in my WRP and not here.

I love classical music. Part of that is probably because I have played violin for a little over 9 years now. I don't have a ton of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn on my iPod, but I bet I have more than most people. Daniel Pink wrote in his portfolio section that in order to get more Symphony training, you should listen to classical music. Of course, being the classical music nerd I am, I am excited. I listen and play classicla enough that I know a few songs that some don't. Have you ever listened to the 4th Brandenburg Concerto, movement #3 by Bach? I find it to be one of my favorite classical songs ever. So I am going to listen to that for my Portfolio reflection this week.

It went good, just so you know. And since I play violin, I was even able to play it. Of course. I was only one violin, but it was good enough. I also listened to some other works and I could tell how these composers thought of the big picture. They combine brass, strings, woodwinds and percussion to get a masterpiece. That is a helpful skill to have in life: to look at the whole thing. Dan Pink was right in saying that symphony is going to be one of the big things in business, in life, and in education. He must've been looking at the big picture.

Here's the quote:

I need to know who put my calculator in Jell-O or I'm gonna lose my freakin' mind! - Andy from The Office

Go listen to some classical music,
A-Websta

Portfolio: Story

At the end of each chapter of Daniel Pink's "six senses" in his book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future he has a few ideas for the reader. He calls it a "portfolio". My teacher has assigned us to do something from this portfolio each week. For this last week's chapter (I was sick and have now only finished it) we read about story. Story is being embraced by big companies now, he says. If you want to know more about it, I'm not going to give it away and you should read it for yourself. Anyway, the portfolio had a couple different ways to show story. I tried the "mini-saga", which is a 50 word- no more, no less -short story of a sort. I wrote mine about an amazing goal scored by Wayne Rooney of Manchester United. It was scored against Newcastle United.

To start, I wrote down all i knew about it. Next, I found more information. Then, I tried writing a mini-saga. It is really not very good, but it gives enough of a picture to figure out what's going on. Here it is:

The Sun's out and bright. Old Trafford's majestic again. 56 long minutes leave it one-nil to Newcastle. The grass is crisp. The crown is angry, yet silent and waiting. A long ball down to the penalty box, a misjudged header to Rooney. Leg up. Is it his time?

As I said it's not amazing, but it's good enough. This goal is considered Wayne Rooney's best goal ever. To view it, just watch here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gz91h_Cz7k&feature=related

Anyway, so there's my mini-saga.

Catch Ya Later,
A-Websta

Reflection: History

In History, we are starting a big unit on WWII. We have learned about how throughout history, few people have had the power to control their fellow man. But out of those people, who were right-brain and who were left-brain? This is not our question, but it brings up an interesting point. The leaders of anything in the world, from nations to city councils to soccer teams, have possessed the abilities to command the people around them. But are those abilities right-brained or left-brained? Some would say you have to be left-brained: analytical, sequential, logical. This thinking will get you through life and help you suceed. There are others who say the leader should be right-brained: artistic, contextual, empathetic. Both groups of people might be telling the truth, but in fact you need to be both right and left brained. Thomas Edison may have invented the light bulb, but would he have been able to create the New Deal? Probably not. But the same goes to FDR: he got us out of the Depression, but would he have been willing to try over 1,000 tines to create the light bulb? Probably not. Both of these things changed history, and both were done a different way (Edisons was Left, FDR's was Right, in my opinion). You need to have the logical, pattern forming ways of the Left side along with the creative Right to rule your people successfully. In WWII, during battle, the commanders had to be creative enough to out-do the enemy, yet have enough logic to defeat with minimum casualties. In summary, everyone, even leaders, need both sides of their brains to survive and lead their people.

And the quote of the post is:

I just wanted to say that the women in this office are terrible.
- Dwight from The Office

Sincererly,
A-Websta

Manchester United- Simply the Best

Is there anymore to say?



Maybe this...



and this?



The songs might be weird but they all help in pointing out one thing...
MANCHESTER UNITED IS THE BEST FOOTBALL (NOT SOCCER) TEAM ON EARTH!!!!!!!!

Man U Fan For Life,
A-Websta

The Wonderful World of Wikis

The theme of today's class was learning how to make a Wikispace. We will be doing a paper on Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future. This will not be any paper though; it will be done completely done on a Wikispace. We made our own Wikispaces and are gonna start to put everything on it. And when I say everything, I mean everything: research, drafts, final and bibliography. It's going to be intense.

I'm not really sure what to reflect on from today: all we did was mess around with Wikispaces. I guess I just talk about the impression it gave me. Overall, it's a great idea. It's like any Microsoft Word document except that it's not as in depth. One of the cooler bits of Wikis is the Widget button. So many things can happen on this button: feeds, videos, pictures, graphs... it's all there! Wikispaces is a great idea and, thing, for lack of a better word. I will be constantly updating it and will post the final product on this blog.

Here's the quote for this post:

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
-J.R.R Tolkien

So 'Long,
A-Websta

Right or Left Brained?

Today we took two brain tests to see what side of our brain we are. One test was in a packet we received, while the other was online (I will give the address later). What these two tests showed was that I am a right brain person, but still use left brain almost as often. My right brain percentage on the Internet test was about 59%. That leaves 41% of left brain. I wasn't surprised by these results: I am musical and don't do things in a logical sequential order.

We also finished the 5 minutes left on the Daniel Pink video (from my post on Tuesday). Not much happened except a wrapup of all he had said earlier. He still said just about everything from his book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future. It is a really good book the video shows him explaining it in person which is very helpful.

Here is the website for the online quiz:

http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/vancouver/left_right/rb_test.htm

And the quote of the post:

French troops arrived in Afghanistan last week, and not a minute too soon. The French are acting as advisers to the Taliban, to teach them how to surrender properly.
-Jay Leno


Godspeed,
A-Websta

Daniel Pink Video

So I watched a video in class today in which Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future. It was basically him giving a summary of his best-selling book. In his book he talks about when the left-brained- which is the sequential, textual, analytical side -was the ruler of the business world. But he points out how now there is a shift towards the right-brained- or the simultaneous, contextual, big picture viewing side - in the land of business.

My reaction to this video was mixed. I wondered why he would say all this because it's just what he says in his book. But what outweighed that was how smart his thinking is. He shows how those left-brained jobs are being off-shored. It is easy to do that to left-brainers, but not to right-brainers. I happen to be one of those right-brained people, being very musical. I am happy to hear when I'm older it will be harder to outsource my job to India or anywhere else in Asia, which happens to be one of his causes of outsourcing. My class and I didn't finish the video so we are going to conclude it tomorrow. I will have more of an reaction after viewing the whole thing. I have including a short intro to the video (courtesy of YouTube) in which you can go and see. And finally, my quote of the post:

Everything passes. Everything changes. Just do what you think you should do.
-Bob Dylan

Peace to you,
A-Websta

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhKLSTBSgwI