Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Game Focused School to Open in New York - Fall of 09

If you are a creative teacher, this would be a dream. I look forward to getting the year-end statistics, in terms of attendance, drop out rates, test scores, etc. I'm betting they will look good.

Any plans to open a school out west?

New York to open game-focused school this fall

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Monday, August 24, 2009

Is conceptual thinking catching on?

Dano responded to one of my posts back in November of 08. (umm... Sorry I never responded, but this was before I understood how Blogger's alert program for comments worked. I missed it altogether).  In any event, Dano's comment gives hope to conceptual thinkers.

Dano:  Nice post. The term "conceptual thinker" was a term I was exposed to when my manager told me he wanted me to lead a particularly challenging project because I was one of the only people in the office who could think conceptually. I wasn't sure how to take it at the time but I am quite happy with it now. Thanks for writing about it.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Games May be the Key for Teachers


"What if every type of learner, every student would find a niche or a unique way to demonstrate their understanding of the material? Since this was a world history class, they would have to learn history, geography and some 40 chapters of a textbook. Could this be accomplished by playing a game?"

You can read the story of Global Challenge here.

Thanks to Brent Pottenger and Brian Geremia at Academic Impact for their encouragement and support of this article, Mike Powers for his on-going “technical support” - and Britt Easterling and Katie Murphy for their feedback and enthusiasm.  Special thanks are also in order for family and friends.

I also appreciate the help with editing and guidance provided by Colleen Belcher and Ben Ilfield at Sacramento Press

Friday, August 21, 2009

More Companies are Allowing for Creative Time

One way to get employees in any organization to be more productive, is to allow them time to work on their own projects and ideas.  Google allows employees to spend 20 percent of their time doing exactly that.

Source:  Gerard Darby, NESTA (The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts)

Read more here.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Right Brain Meetings

The next time you need some fresh ideas, consider getting out of the office.

Read here to learn more about "Right Brain Meetings."

Photo credit: Aynsley Floyd for The New York Times



Thursday, August 13, 2009

The New Economy and the Right Brain

Marco R. della Cava of USA Today tells us that  "As companies continue to triage their way through this economic war, a growing chorus of cultural observers argue that recovery is contingent on the marriage of right-brain innovations with left-brain skill sets."

This article makes a great argument for the need to embrace innovative, entrepreneurial thinking. As Daniel Pink (quoted in the article) says "We're realizing that our economy is not about standardization."

The real challenge for those right brainers who are either out of work or "under employed"... is to convince employers of the need for your creative generalist, right brain approach.  What is the best way to do this? Your comments on this are welcome.

Click on the title (above) to go to the article.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Check out the new Global Challenge website!

The new website is done. If you are a history, geography, government or economics teacher out there and want to try it out for your class – just send me an e-mail. If you’re the first to do so, try it out for free.

Why post this on Right Brain World? If you’re a right brain student, it’s sometimes easier and more interesting to learn through projects. During the playing of Global Challenge, it's often important to be a big concept thinker. Your vision or understanding of where things are headed could help guide students who do not see things in this way. Left brain students are sure to thrive too, since their keen skills in analysis are necessary to getting many things done in the game.  You'll quickly find out how much the two "hemispheres" need one another.

Here’s a quick analysis:

Right brain students will see historical patterns, put together creative plans, help create team logos, theme music, design currency, formulate plots, or interpret the behavior of other players.

Left brain students will enjoy calculating strategies based on per capita incomes, put together spread sheets to keep track of money, points, armies, teams, facts, etc. They will help in providing the much needed order and structure to keep the game moving forward.

The great part about this game, honestly, is that there is something for every type of learner.

If you’re a creative teacher, you’ll be free to integrate the arts. Have your students create theme songs, design team logos or a new look for the classroom itself. If you’re into the idea of integrating technology, then you may want to find creative ways to use Facebook or Twitter, create a class blog or wiki. It’s all up to you. Global Challenge will provide you the overall framework – and you can take it from there.

I hope you will give it a try.