Wordle

Wordle

To begin with, it’s a funny sounding word which could mean anything.

It sounds like something that should be fun.

What it actually is, is an online “word cloud” generator.

You give Wordle the text, either copied and pasted or as a direct link to a blog post. Wordle then turns the text into a cloud, and you can alter the color, font, and overall design of the cloud. The word size is dependent upon how many times a given word is mentioned in the text.

The resulting cloud can be shared on the web, printed, or saved to pdf. You can print the cloud on a tee shirt or a business card; use it in anyway you like. The cloud can be used to analyze text in a number of ways. Try it with poetry, with a blog post, with a news article (and then ask people to figure out what the article is about based upon the cloud). (That idea comes from Box of Tricks.)

If you click the cloud image above, it will take you to the full size Wordle cloud. It’s a Wordle of my previous post.

I know, computer applications are not my usual topic, but this application resonated in a big way, so enjoy the diversion, though I’d argue it’s actually quite a brain compatible app.

Advanced Drawing Class

Brian Bomeisler’s two day intensive Advanced Drawing Class focused on light, shadow, crosshatching, and sighting. I had my first experience drawing some of the classics of drawing – a still life of fruit, a bottle and flowers; and a nude. We began on a rainy Friday.

Friday morning, just getting started by warming up with a Vanishing Point.

A styrofoam ball to expose shadows and light.

Perspective, shadows and light with a cone, cube and ball – I was pleased with the shadows and relationship of the cube and ball. I headed home after a full day of drawing, pleased that for not having drawn in many months, as with the act of bicycle riding so much had remained with me.

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This was our first drawing on a sunny, cool Saturday morning, and I was a bit too focused on what I was drawing, so the end result is a bit forced…a bit too left brain! I headed to lunch with this on my mind, and determined to relax a bit for our afternoon drawing, which was made all the more possible by an enjoyable lunch with Dianne, another student in the class. We talked about our careers, our children, and our feelings about the class, having both taken prior workshops with Brian.

I am still amazed that I drew this picture. I didn’t think about the body form; only about defining the negative space that surrounded the body. Am tickled with the result!

Two Days in Soho

The intensive advanced drawing class I took yesterday and today was held in the artist’s studio in Soho, New York. Eight hour days, punctuated by a break for lunch, were filled with drawing and learning. Our focus was on seeing shadows, contours, light, and edges.

The studio, below, is set up for drawing a live model.

I’ll post my pictures in a day or two; have to scan them first!

Drawing on the Right

Yeehah! My grant proposal to attend this Friday’s and Saturday’s Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain workshop has been funded by my school. This will be my third DRSB workshop, having attended the Five Day Intensive Drawing Class back in August 2005, and the one day Sketching Class in February 2007. This time I’m taking the Two Day Intensive Advanced Drawing Class.

Enough about the class titles! It’s all about the brain and the hand and the eye, about getting in the flow and letting yourself go. It’s about initially trying something different and then trying to get better at it. It’s about getting out of your comfort zone. It’s about tickling the brain and getting other neuron’s firing. It’s about stimulating creativity. It’s about having fun doing something different.

Can you tell I’m excited!

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

I have referenced Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain multiple times in past posts, and it is also noted in the Links section at the right. Thus, you may understand what prompted me to send the following email to Faculty and Staff at my school. As folks respond to my email, I will copy and paste their comments to the Comments at the end of this post, withholding names to keep the authors anonymous. Feel free to view the results of my participation in the workshop.

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Hi,

In the summer of 2005 RCDS financed, through an auxiliary grant, my participation in a five day drawing workshop, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Traveling to Soho everyday for a week, I spent hours under the expert guidance of Brian Bomeisler, immersed in learning to redraw.

At the time, I made the case that taking such a workshop would facilitate creative thinking, which would benefit me in my role as a teacher and someone charged with helping folks to make use of technology. I also believe that participating in professional development outside of one’s area of expertise is a phenomenal way to foster personal growth.

The act of drawing is also useful in helping with recall. Robert Greenleaf (our opening speaker this past August), shares research (pg 22 of the 2005 edition of Brain Based Teaching: Making Connections for Long–Term Memory & Recall) showing that when learners create illustrations they improve their recall by up to four times more than without the use of illustrations. 

Now an article in the Business section of Sunday’s New York Times, Let Computers Compute. It’s the Age of the Right Brain., by Janet Rae-Dupree,  describes how the art of drawing, and the art of being more creative and more right brain oriented, is taking center stage at a number of companies. Those of you who have read Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind know that this is an approach he considers crucial to succeeding in the post–Information Age.

It should come as no surprise to you that I wish everyone of us could participate in a Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain workshop. In fact, I’d love to see us have Brian come to RCDS for our opening meetings in August and guide us through the art of learning to redraw and discovering “an entirely new way to see.” I think our creative sides would feel nourished, and that, in turn, would nourish our teaching and mentoring, which in turn would nourish our students. 

Any takers?

Cheers,
Laurie

 

Lincoln Center institute for the arts in education

In my post about Maxine Greene, I mentioned the Lincoln Center institute for the arts in education. During the summer of 2002 I participated in The National Educator Workshop: Introduction to Aesthetic Education. Everyday for the week of July 8 through 12, I trekked to New York City and spent my days at Lincoln Center. As a child growing up in the Long Island suburbs of the City, I had my fill of concerts, opera and ballet at Lincoln Center, but for that week in 2002 it was a treat to enter buildings that for years had seemed out of range to me as a theatre attendee. The location, and having access to these buildings that are home to artistic endeavors, made me feel artistically inclined; it was as though my surroundings could rub off on me and cause me to feel like an artist!

Wikipedia has some pictures of Lincoln Center’s buildings, and Carthalia contains a compilation of history about the buildings along with some postcard pictures of the complex. In fact, if you have an interest in old postcards or theatres and concert halls worldwide, you should check out Carthalia – Theatres on Postcards.

During the week long workshop I participated in activities designed to expose me to the sensations of aesthetic education. There were hands-on art workshops, hands-on music workshops, attendance at a concert, a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and attendance at a dance performance. There was also a lecture by Maxine Greene, which was one of the many highlights of the week. I was immersed in the arts, and loved every minute of the process!

Throughout the week each of us (there were about 40, if memory serves correct) were encouraged to keep a journal. After the workshop concluded, we were asked to submit a Response Essay about the week long experience. In addition to various handouts provided during the workshop, we were also given a booklet entitled Entering the World of the Work of Art – A Brainstorming Guide. The booklet’s purpose was to guide us in bringing art into the world of education, particularly as a way of expanding imagination. From the booklet:

“At Lincoln Center we believe that works of art provide an inexhaustible resource for exploration, reflection, and understanding. Children and adults have the capacity to respond to a work of art in ways that can stimulate fresh insights, encourage deeper understandings, and challenge preconceived notions. Without the limitations imposed by “right” or “wrong” answers, the process of responding to a work of art develops each student’s ability to think in fundamental and powerful ways.”

“As a result, unexpected connections are made, alternative points of view considered, complexities explored, and doors to new and imagined worlds opened.”

To read more about this experiential program, first visit the Lincoln Center page and then scroll down to the lower right corner, under Arts and Education, and click the link for Lincoln Center Institute.

Plasticity: The Final Four

I am NOT referring to the NCCA’s final four games of the men’s college basketball championships, the opening rounds of which begin in March and are often referred to as March Madness! I AM referring to the final four chapters of Norman Doidge’s book, The Brain That Changes Itself. These chapters are jam packed with science and philosophy.

An entire chapter is devoted to imagination and its role in shaping our brains. Perhaps you are familiar with the act of visualization as a means for improving in sports. Feel free to check your knowledge of this built-in brain tool with ChannelOne’s Head Game or read this New York Times article, FITNESS; Visualization: Does It Provide an Edge? As Doidge has written, it turns out “Brain scans show that in action and imagination many of the same parts of the brain are activated. That is why visualizing can improve performance.”

The topic of memory takes up another chapter, which is infused with references to Freud. Written clearly, it provides an excellent discussion of his theories, in particular transference and dreams, which equate to a “plastic view of memory.”

Rejuvenation is a word that always conjures up a positive image. Just take in this definition of “the phenomenon of vitality and freshness being restored” and how can you go wrong! Renew, refresh, repair… A stem cell is a cell that can make exact copies of itself. The brain has neuronal stem cells, so called because they can specialize as either neurons or glial cells. Doidge describes seeing these cells through a highly detailed microscope, and what he has to say about them is refreshing: “…stem cells don’t have to specialize but can continue to divide, producing exact replicas of themselves, and they can go on doing this endlessly without any signs of aging. … This rejuvenating process is called “neurogenesis,” and it goes on until the day that we die.” The simple-sounding keys to promoting neurogenesis include novelty, physical exercise, and learning (something new). Heck, that gives license to do all sorts of interesting things as we age, possibly making the latter portion of aging more fun than the first portion

Doidge’s last chapter introduces Betty Edwards and her book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. This is near and dear because in the summer of 2005 I took the one week Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain workshop taught by her son, Brain Bommeisler, in New York City. I am rather proud of my accomplishments, and invite you to see for yourself that it is possible to (re)learn to draw, which translates to learning something new later in life, which translates to brain plasticity.

Given how many entries I have posted about Doidge’s book, it will not surprise you to know that I found the content stimulating, refreshing, and exciting. The possibilities for what there is yet to learn about our brains, and the ways in which we will uncover that information, are indeed exhilarating.

Vases ~ Faces

Picture books and children. They go together like milk and cookies. Some picture books have one or two words to accompany the pictures, but it is the images that fill the pages. As toddlers, my kids loved the small colorful board books which entertained them with images and gave them something to chew on as well!

Robert Greenleaf, on page 22 of his 2005 edition of Brain Based Teaching: Making Connections for Long-Term Memory & Recall, shares research showing that when learners create illustrations they improve their recall of information by up to four times more than without the use of illustrations.

John Hopkins researchers have studied How the Brain Understands Pictures. Their conclusion is that the brain sees in wholes while at the same time allowing scrutiny of the parts.

Go ahead and try for yourself the Vase/Faces exercise that is referenced in the Hopkins article. You can use pencil and paper or do it online or even try both! At the left is my try from December 2001. My notes from then state that the chin was confusing to draw and I had difficulty determining which way (right/left, in/out) to go with the outline. Also noted was that I drew the right profile too quickly! I did the exercise from the book, The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

On artist Charley Parker’s blog, lines and colors, he has an article about Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, which describes the class process quite accurately. I know first hand, having been a student in Brian Bomeisler’s week-long workshop in August, 2005, and then again in his Saturday sketching session in February of this year. If taking a class is not in your plans, but you are interested in the exercises, try the New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook: Guided Practice in the Five Basic Skills of Drawing.

The sketching session, in particular, reminded me that taking time to look and see absolutely enhances perception and understanding.

p.s. Posted from Paris, city of lights – yes – but also city of art where there is so much to see!

Left or Right?

If you become a regular reader of this blog you will discover that I like to draw. In the summer of 2005 I took a one week drawing class in Soho, NY, where a few million of my neurons received a wake up call.

The premise of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is that for many of us the left mode of our brains needs a rest so the right mode of our brains can strut its stuff. This theory of the brain suggests that the concrete, verbal left side (L-mode) is responsible for analytical and sequential processing of information while the abstract, spontaneous right side (R-mode) is responsible for visual and spatial processing.

Our brains are, in fact, split evenly between a left and a right side, known as the left and right hemispheres, and each side has its own areas of specialization. (Neuroscience for Kids – Hemispheres.) However, both hemispheres are involved in almost all cognitive tasks, and research shows that the brain is organized based upon the cognitive act and not necessarily the physical act. The two hemispheres are joined by the corpus callosum, a big white fiberous band of axons that goes back and forth between the hemispheres. (An Introduction to the Brain & Neurosciences for Clinicians/Educators by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Learning & the Brain Conference, Cambridge, MA, April 27, 2005.)

According to Mary Helen, the right hemisphere is coded for most movement, so you might think it has a major role to play in sign language. Well, it turns out the left hemisphere handles sign language the same way it handles spoken language because language is basically a cognitive operation. In other words, the part of the brain that handles lip and tongue movement has been co-opted to handle sign language. Thus, the cognitive act of communicating through “speaking”, and not the physical act of hand movement, determined which part of the brain was involved.

At only three pounds the brain may seem small, but there is a ton of activity going on in there, and it doesn’t stop as we get older. Our brains react to new experiences throughout our lives (Neuroscience for Kids – Brain Plasticity.) As Kathy Sierra writes on her Creating Passionate Users blog:

Experiencing and learning new things is literally exercise for the brain!

Passionate users grow more brain cells!