Monday, July 6, 2009

Perspicacity

It's a nice sounding word. Now try to say it 5 times and fast! Stuck?? Perspicacity, perspicacity, perspicacity, perspicacity, perspicacity. It reminds me of part of a poem I once wrote:
Try as we might;
To shed some light;
Clarity (or Perspicacity)
Forever
Remains
Out of
sight.
On any topic, there are always more unanswered questions than answers. On love. On life. On kids. On death. On education (yes I did throw that one in!). So this summer, I am setting out on a quest to acquire a better understanding of some of these and other areas. In terms of education, I am taking an online course - yes teachers do spend their summers thinking about the fall. Until now, I wasn't really interested in the course I had signed up for. It was simply a course that I need to take another course that I plan to do next year. A stepping stone. Much to my surprise, I am really enjoying the course because I can still make links to secondary education and my prodigies are my kids. I was never interested in primary education because I felt it wouldn't challenge me in the way that I need to be challenged. I was wrong. It is the old adage: "You never know something until you try it." The course has really been interesting in terms of deciphering what kind of learner you are and what kind of learners your students are. Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory has been poked an prodded on so many levels that now there are so many types of quizzes used to describe learning style. So here's a really good one done by the Birmingham Grid for Learning:

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/index.htm

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