Think Like A Scientist

I’d love to see inventor, Jay Silver travel to as many school districts as possible nationwide to reignite the curiosity in teachers and administrators alike. During this cozy 19 minute TEDx Talk Silver, with a sparkle in his eyes totally engages the audience relaying stories of his own childhood and the transformations he has made in his own thinking. Silver, definitely thinks outside of the box which is not often welcomed in the classroom or boardroom. I see his way of thinking has a progressive and much-needed model for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classrooms as well as teacher training models. You don’t necessarily need a kit with instructions to build something cool, go outside in nature and create with the materials around you. Design, create, and build driven by your own internal inspirations. Sit back, absorb, and be transformed as you watch Jay Silver in this charming TEDx Talk on the evolution of his latest invention, the MakeyMakey.

Just finished watching a thought provoking TED Talk by creativity expert, Ken Robinson entitled “How To Escape Education’s Death Valley.” In the 19 minute TED Talk video Robinson outlines 3 principles crucial for the human mind to flourish, school systems take note:

• Human beings are natural and diverse, education should reflect this.
• We are all born curious, children are natural learners. Thus, teachers must act as mentors, facilitators of learning, stimulate the student, and engage the student. Otherwise, learning is not taking place.
• Humans are inherently creative, we all create our own lives. Teachers must awaken and develop this creativity within each individual.

Unfortunately, the current culture of most U.S. school systems, teaching methodologies do not embrace these three principles. The focus is on standardized testing, which do have their place. However, preparing students for standardized testing should not be the focus of our educational system. Robinson points out successful school systems such as: Singapore, China, Australia, and Finland where the teaching profession is highly regarded, and these countries also invest in continued professional development for their teachers. It really does boil down to cultivating the innate curiosity we are all born with alive.