A WHOLE New Mind

A Whole New Mind seemed to emphasize a whole new way of thinking, and more importantly learning. I thought the presentation was great: the PowerPoint, equitable distribution of speaking time, music (rhythmic learning; score), and hands-on activities made me think deeply and thoroughly about the concepts being introduced. I liked his/yours/whomevers description of the "conceptual" age, and how we as humans need to "put the pieces of the puzzle together." It reminded me of all the teachers that stress creativity and provided authentic and varying learning experiences. It also made me reflect on today's technological society and how the job market demands a higher skilled, and thus higher thinking worker (something that was reinforced from practicum, where we learned that a large percentage of the world's future jobs have not yet been created). I especially liked how the activities and how the centered around creative thinking. They got me thinking meta-cognitively (that is, thinking about my thinking processes) about my personal teaching strategies and pedagogical philosophies. Seriously, I really want to read the book, and I think you did a tremendous job of informing me of the new theories and selling the book.