Monday, November 12, 2012

The Cube

When you choose (and that’s all up to you) to change your way of thinking so many more options appear. I am always looking for a better solution and I question any advice that comes my way before just accepting it or kicking it to the curb. Weight loss and depression have long been struggles for me but in seeking that out I found I was able to apply the same thinking to every other aspect of my life.

On the way to work today I heard this interesting story on NPR about education in the Far East compared to our Western thinking. The example they gave was a teacher was having the class draw a simple 3D cube where you draw a square then layer and another square in the middle of it and connect the lines making a cube. One child just could not seem to grasp this concept.

The teacher had the kid step up to the chalk board in front of the classroom (Oh the Horror!!) and work out the problem. The child would try and she would ask the class “is that right?” and the class would all shake their heads no. This went on for some time and if that would have been me I might have fled the room in a fit of frustration and rage. In this class though, they waited and encouraged the child and when at last he solved the problem the class cheered as he took his seat in triumph! Patience and determination was more highly thought of in this room.

In fairness the reporter said that the Easts way of teaching was not better just different. As an example in the East many of the students excelled in math and science but almost like robots and they lacked any type of imagination. So when we think out side of the box(Cube in this case) I would offer up that another part to add to our thinking is patience.

Peace and Love all!

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