Educators are familiar with Howard Gardiner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. In a nutshell, Gardiner argues that whereas traditional IQ tests typically measure only
(This is a blog entry from my flight blog at www.flyonline.weebly.com)
Educators are familiar with Howard Gardiner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. In a nutshell, Gardiner argues that whereas traditional IQ tests typically measure only
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For the past 8 weeks I have been in the company of men. Twice weekly for 3 hours at a time, I am have been taking a night class where I am the only woman in a group of roughly 18 students.
I have observed that men tend to behave differently when women are around -- even if the woman is more of a tom-boy than a "lady". They can't seem to help themselves; they get going in their wild and raunchy way, and then suddenly, inevitably, one of them will seem to remember that I am there, and although I am often the provoceur of the greatest buffoonery of all, the one who remembers that I am in fact not "one of the guys" suddenly seems a little bit, well, uncomfortable, for lack of a better word. It's kind of cute. The other day on the way down the escalator, one of them grabbed my laptop bag and carried it all the way to the classroom. He wouldn't have done that for one of the other men. I found this intriguing. And... I kind of appreciated it! It made me feel special. Some will no doubt call me anti-feminist when they read this, but I think I like chivalry. You know, the old fashioned, door opening, "ladies first" kind of nonsense. I like it! I think when a man behaves that way, my response immediately mirrors it. I become more polite, and find myself behaving in a more "lady-like" fashion, rather than acting like the hoodlum I typically engender. I think feminine wit and intelligence can still flourish in a such a world. One of my huge disappointments in Education has been the apparent lack of critical thinking in the workforce. Over the decade and a half
A kind friend recently donated a flight simulator to the cause, so that I could practise at home between lessons.
I am amazed at the complexity of the program -- not only can you select your aircraft, with realistic proportions and controls, but you can also choose which airport to fly out of, what weight to adjust your aircraft to, what weather you will fly in... you can even choose to have some random "failures" at certain points in the game, so that you can practise your emergency procedures! As I was fiddling with this thing, I thought, "wouldn't it be something to have a classroom simulator"??!! You know, for student teachers, or just anyone, really, who wants to improve their teaching. You could choose the grade level, and select whether to be subject specific, or integrated. You could decide how many students in your class (would have to be realistic -- at least 20, but you could pick a number up to 36), and the combination of boys:girls. Then you decide on the ratio and make up of Spec Ed and ELLs, and away you go! How fun would it be to practise different classroom management techniques ("okay kids, line up" -- and a bunch of students start pushing and shoving) or try out some different instructional methods ("alright boys and girls, we're going to make a concept map now about... whatever" and then two of the virtual students yell out that they don't have a pencil and three other kids tell you to F-off). Very nice, don't you think? I flew a plane today!
It was a small plane, a C-150 (a little 2-seater), but it had wings, and I helped with take-off and steering, and we ascended and descended and did something to do with attitude and a whole bunch of other things I don’t remember the names for, and it was quite the experience!!! Now, you may be wondering, "why would a teacher be interested in learning to fly?!" Well, here’s the thing… After more than a decade in education, I have become a bit of an expert in my field (not that I don’t still have much more to learn about teaching and workshop facilitation, but the truth is that most people in my field that I deal with day to day are simply less good at what we do than I am now. That's not meant to be a derrogatory comment, just an observation. Many of the professional learning opportunities I have been made to attend over the past few years simply don't challenge me the way they did when I was new to this teaching gig. I guess it’s just a fact that comes with time, commitment, passion and experience in any profession. Teaching is my life’s work, and I’ve been doing it long enough and in such a precision-focussed manner that I have grown quite skilled at this thing we call teaching!) So, to push my thinking to the next level, I thought it was time to begin learning something completely different. As someone who has flown commercially a fair amount, I have always been intrigued by how pilots and air traffic control people and all the others who make a flight happen work together. Reading a passage from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers about a year ago solidified this interest, as he examined the interpersonal dynamics that made an airline successful (or not so successful). Apart from the personal dynamics around flying, I have a bit of an issue with science-related stuff. My dad was a nuclear physicist with Atomic Energy Canada, but he died when I was a baby, and I myself am not so science-minded. In fact, I try to avoid most things science, and have even traded off this subject as a teacher, preferring instead to teach math, reading, music… anything but science! So, I figured pursuing my interest in the personnel aspect of flying might offer a somewhat more palatable manner of familiarizing myself with a little science. Wow, am I ever in over my head!!! The language spoken by the flight instructors and others at the Island Flight School in Toronto, where I will be studying, was completely foreign to me. As I sat in the waiting room before my first lesson, I realised that I didn’t understand about 50% of what they were saying to each other. Semantically, syntactically or graphophonically… the words and nuances didn't made any sense to me at all!!! This leads to a third reason for pursuing my pilot’s license: It’s a humbling experience. One of the downfalls of being good at what you do is that you can get a little (or in my case, a lot!) cocky or arrogant. One way to combat this is to learn something completely new and different: Although I made many, many connections to teaching and learning during my first flight lesson this morning, for the most part, I was a total moron: I know nothing about aviation, and everyone around me is – at this point – much smarter and better at it than I am! For me, that in itself is a new experience. My grade 12 drama teacher wrote in a reference letter for me many years ago that I am “an eager learner and a quick study”. That’s true, but I am also getting older and slower. My neurons don’t fire as fast as they once did. Learning to fly is also, as my flight instructor’s mentor once told him, “not for peasants” (i.e. it costs a few bucks!), and we are trying these days to stay on a fairly rigid budget, so I will need to decide carefully how my limited dollars are spent. (For example, is a flying lesson really worth a pedicure and a facial?! Haha!) So, while my initial enthusiasm is strong, the truth of the matter is, whether I succeed in completing the necessary ground school and in-flight hours to obtain my pilot’s license is still… well… “up in the air”. :D |
About Vera...After writing for several teacher and multiple birth publications, including ETFO's Voice Magazine, Multiple Moments, and the Bulletwin, Vera turned her written attention to prolific blogging for some years, including BiB, "Learn to Fly with Vera!" and SMARTbansho . Homeschooling 4 was her travel blog in Argentina. She now spends more time on her Instagram (@schalgzeug_usw) than her blog (pictures are worth a thousand words?!)
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The views expressed on this blog are the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the perspectives of her family members or the position of her employer on the the issues she blogs about. These posts are intended to share resources, document family life, and encourage critical thought on a variety of subjects. They are not intended to cause harm to any individual or member of any group. By reading this blog and viewing this site, you agree to not hold Vera liable for any harm done by views expressed in this blog. Categories
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