Music across cultures

I've been watching a lot of Olympics this year. Outside of curling, I really enjoy watching the ice skating and ice dancing programs. Something that has really surprised me is how much American music is found across cultures. For example, there have been multiple routines done to music from Moulin Rouge. Last night, a 19-year-old from Hungary performed to two songs by ACDC.  It's really interesting to me to see music across the cultures along with the more traditional instrumental stuff.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy being put to the test

I woke up this morning with the all-over aches, a sore throat, inability to "wake up," and I've been blowing my nose constantly.  I know that there is A LOT going around. I've been doing my best at washing my hands, getting my Vitamin C, and ALL THE THINGS. I have a lot going on right now, so getting sick just doesn't fit into the plans. I'm putting self-fulfilling prophecy to the test today. I keep chanting to my self that "I'm not getting sick. I'm not getting sick. I'll be fine. I'm not getting sick."  Here's hoping it works!

Perpectives and perceptions vary...

Last  night my husband and I were watching at episode of Scrubs. It's one of our favorite TV series of all time, so we decided to start it over again from the beginning thanks to Hulu. Anyway, last night's episode was a great example of perception! One of the main characters, JD, has growing envy for another character, Dr. Murdoch, because JD feels Dr. M has it all together. That's his perception of for doctor at least. But as the episode continues, JD realizes that Dr. M is under a lot of stress and can't deal with failure or death. Dr. M has a breakdown and leaves the profession. This was incredibly unexpected since most of the hospital saw Dr. M as the best interning doctor there.  Our perceptions can cause us to be blind to things if we aren't mindfully aware of all the messages being sent.

Semantic Noise in Enriched English 11

My Enriched English 11 class is currently watching the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It takes place in the late 1600s during the Salem Witch Trials. Although it is in English, the sentence structure and organization of words was a little different then compared to now. It causes some semantic noise for students until they get comfortable with the language. We read Of Plymouth Plantation before we start the play to adjust the students to change in the language. It's really interesting to go back and study the progression of English as we use it today.

Abiguity and Puns

My son LOVES puns! It's been creating puns since he was 4. Sometimes puns are funny because of ambiguity, which is what we talked about in class today.  When a message has more than one meaning, and we can understand that, the situation becomes humorous. Here's an example:



source: http://arnoldzwicky.s3.amazonaws.com/PearlsCatsMeow.jpg

TIES and Perspective

Last week I had the honor of attending the TIES Conference, which focused on new ways of incorporating technology in education.  I went with another teacher.  As we walked around together between sessions, we would point out things we felt would be beneficial to the other or things that reminded us of the other.  This experience gave me an opportunity to grow in self-awareness. There are things that I didn't realize I said or did in the classroom that were noticed by others. This was a great opportunity for me to not only grow from the information and experiences of the conference session and speakers, but also to grow in self-awareness.

Recency and Primacy can be "Strange"

When it comes to impression of people, I definitely following the Primacy Theory of Impression Formation. I remember not only my first impression of you, but many times what you were wearing or how your hair was styled. I often remember those early conversations of self-disclosure more than the most recent ones. When it comes to movies and shows, though, I am more Recency; I'll remember what was more recently worn, said, or who someone was styled. A great example of that is from Strange Things. My hubby and I finished Stranger Things 2 finally last night.  So from now on, when I think of Eleven, I'll picture her at Snowball, not how she was in the first season with no hair.