The Power of Mindful Learning (Ellen J Langer)

 

If it wasn't Spring Break, I likely would not have read this book. However, it wasn't a long one so I soldiered on. I am very interested in mindfulness and so was curious about her take. The preface started on about the problems with assessment, which is what caused me to not want to continue. However, in the space of mindfulness, I can see what the author was saying. Sometimes it was light and easy reading and sometimes I got quite bogged down in the details of studies she cites and my interest would wane. Overall, I can see that this would be a good topic for an education degree and she had some good things to consider. Many times, however, I disagreed with some of her assertions because of experiences I've had with good teaching....for example: Wrote learning. I have found that my students can learn math facts by repeated practice and a bit of searching for patterns, which is a small leap from wrote memory. If I can get them to do that prior to doing our multiplication unit which focuses a lot on the why's of multiplication and methods for figuring it out, they learn it much quicker. If they have those facts already in their head, suddenly the why makes sense.

There were many other topics in here I had a "Ya but...." comment that would be interesting to discuss with the author. However, time to move on to something that will absorb my interest as a reader! 

Goodreads says:
Radical in its implications, this original and important work may change forever the views we hold about the nature of learning. In The Power of Mindful Learning, Ellen Langer uses her innovative theory of mindulness, introduced in her influential earlier book, to dramatically enhance the way we learn. In business, sports, laboratories, or at home, our learning is hobbled by certain antiquated and pervasive misconceptions. In this pithy, liberating, and delightful book she gives us a fresh, new view of learning in the broadest sense. Such familiar notions as delayed gratification, ”the basics”, or even ”right answers”, are all incapacitating myths which Langer explodes one by one. She replaces them with her concept of mindful or conditional learning which she demonstrates, with fascinating examples from her research, to be extraordinarily effective. Mindful learning takes place with an awareness of context and of the ever-changing nature of information. Learning without this awareness, as Langer shows convincingly, has severely limited uses and often sets on up for failure.With stunning applications to skills as diverse as paying attention, CPR, investment analysis, psychotherapy, or playing a musical instrument, The Power of Mindful Learning is for all who are curious and intellectually adventurous.

True or False (Cindy L. Otis)

 

This was a really timely read with an election going on in Canada right now. It was fascinating to read about how far back people have been sharing fake news. The first part of the book is a history and the rest is tips on how to not be tricked.

Before you share something on social media:

1. Read the whole article! Don't get sucked in by click bait headlines.

2. Even once you've read the article, don't go with your gut. Your gut isn't always the most reliable source because all of our personal biases are at play. Also, don't dismiss something as fake news simply because you don't agree with it. 

3. Check the URL for the article and check the domain name carefully. 

.com are for business. Are they trying to sell you something

.edu Students can use this as well as education organizaitons

.gov is usually a government organization

.org are usually non-profit, however, anyone can buy a .org domain

.biz, .info. .net .xyz etc These are for sites that don't fit somewhere else. Most legitimate news outlets would not use these kinds of domains

4. Check the date! Sometimes fake news starts with someone recycling old news.

5. Investigate the source. Where is this news coming from? Is it written by a journalist or a news organization? A company pushing a product? Or an individual? Most legitimate websites have an 'about us' section to tell you about the people in their organization.

6. Do an internet search on the sources background. If you cannot find anything about the source, be skeptical.

7. Sometimes fake news quotes people that don't actually exist. Google experts they quote.

8. Spelling mistakes are a big sign you have stumbled on fake news or a personal blog/website. Reputable outlets have multiple layers of editors

9. See if other news outlets are reporting on it. Sometimes fake news outlets have more than one website and will publish something across all their websites. Check outlets you're familiar with and are legit.

10. Identify who is telling the story and why. You should be able to click on the author's name and what else they have written. Is this someone who has an expertise on the topic discussed in the article?

11. Check the sources used. If there are not sources listed, be leery. If sources are anonymous, legitimate outlets will explain why they're anonymous.

12. Check out hyperlinks to other articles.

13. Ask yourself if there is more to the story. Fake news writers often copy parts of an article. If important context is missing, it is likely fake. 

14. Fake news often makes up quotes and attributes them to real people or copies quotes that they've previously said and they take it out of context to fit what they want to say.

15. Go to fact checking websites that debunk hoaxes and conspiracies. 

Goodreads says:

"If I could pick one book to hand to every teen—and adult—on earth, this is the one. True or False is accessible, thorough, and searingly honest, and we desperately needed it." —Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

"Though billed for young adults, this is a book that every adult should read." --The Washington Post

A former CIA analyst unveils the true history of fake news and gives readers tips on how to avoid falling victim to it in this highly designed informative YA nonfiction title.

"Fake news" is a term you've probably heard a lot in the last few years, but it's not a new phenomenon. From the ancient Egyptians to the French Revolution to Jack the Ripper and the founding fathers, fake news has been around as long as human civilization. But that doesn't mean that we should just give up on the idea of finding the truth.

In True or False, former CIA analyst Cindy Otis will take readers through the history and impact of misinformation over the centuries, sharing stories from the past and insights that readers today can gain from them. Then, she shares lessons learned in over a decade working for the CIA, including actionable tips on how to spot fake news, how to make sense of the information we receive each day, and, perhaps most importantly, how to understand and see past our own information biases, so that we can think critically about important issues and put events happening around us into context.

True or False includes a wealth of photo illustrations, informative inserts, and sidebars containing interesting facts and trivia sure to engage readers in critical thinking and analysis.

Discipline is Destiny (Ryan Holiday)

 

I read another of his books called The Obstacle Is the Way and I said that was one of the best books I've read. So is this one!! This kind of thing is totally my jam. I love the inspiring stories. This is the kind of book you could read a chapter of every day all year long to make your life better. It's also one that would be great for finding inspiring stories to share when you have to speak to a crowd. 

I got it from the library but I plan to buy it. 

Goodreads says:

In his New York Times bestselling book Courage is Calling, author Ryan Holiday made the Stoic case for a bold and brave life. In this much-anticipated second book of his Stoic Virtue series, Holiday celebrates the awesome power of self-discipline and those who have seized it.

To master anything, one must first master themselves–one’s emotions, one’s thoughts, one’s actions. Eisenhower famously said that freedom is really the opportunity to practice self-discipline. Cicero called the virtue of temperance the polish of life. Without boundaries and restraint, we risk not only failing to meet our full potential and jeopardizing what we have achieved, but we ensure misery and shame. In a world of temptation and excess, this ancient idea is more urgent than ever.

In Discipline is Destiny, Holiday draws on the stories of historical figures we can emulate as pillars of self-discipline, including Lou Gehrig, Queen Elizabeth II, boxer Floyd Patterson, Marcus Aurelius and writer Toni Morrison, as well as the cautionary tales of Napoleon, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Babe Ruth. Through these engaging examples, Holiday teaches readers the power of self-discipline and balance, and cautions against the perils of extravagance and hedonism.

At the heart of Stoicism are four simple virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. Everything else, the Stoics believed, flows from them. Discipline is Destiny will guide readers down the path to self-mastery, upon which all the other virtues depend. Discipline is predictive. You cannot succeed without it. And if you lose it, you cannot help but bring yourself failure and unhappiness.

Catch and Kill (Ronan Farrow)

 

This story is one I've heard a lot about but never really knew in great detail. It was shocking to read about how people knew and ignored the rape of so many women by Harvey Weinstein....as well as others in Hollywood and big business. It made my heart rate to read about the crimes and the people who tried super hard to stop Ronan Farrow from telling the story. Stunning! As I was reading this, my husband came home to tell me a story about people he knows that have done pretty much the same thing: let men who have money get away with crimes done to other people. Un-freaking-believable.  

I sometimes had a hard time following the story because there were so many names and most of them I was unfamiliar with. Maybe people who are better at knowing actors names and others involved in the movie industry could keep track of it all. 

Goodreads says:

In 2017, a routine network television investigation led Ronan Farrow to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood's most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealth, and a conspiracy of silence. As Farrow drew closer to the truth, shadowy operatives, from high-priced lawyers to elite war-hardened spies, mounted a secret campaign of intimidation, threatening his career, following his every move and weaponizing an account of abuse in his own family.

All the while, Farrow and his producer faced a degree of resistance that could not be explained - until now. And a trail of clues revealed corruption and cover-ups from Hollywood, to Washington, and beyond.

This is the untold story of the exotic tactics of surveillance and intimidation deployed by wealthy and connected men to threaten journalists, evade accountability and silence victims of abuse - and it's the story of the women who risked everything to expose the truth and spark a global movement.

Both a spy thriller and a meticulous work of investigative journalism, Catch and Kill breaks devastating new stories about the rampant abuse of power - and sheds far-reaching light on investigations that shook the culture.

In a dramatic account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost.

Attack From Within (Barbara McQuade)

 

This book was very American based, but many of the suggestions apply to Canada too. The problem definitely isn't unique to the USA. Since I live in Alberta where the current provincial politicians in charge seem to want to align themselves with the direction the current Republican government is moving and that is something I really don't want. Elbows up!

• Create laws that require social media platforms to disallow false claims.
• Fund local news coverage.
• Extend the equal time rule to all news outlets...all candidates get equal time. Prevent broadcast media from showing one campaign over another.
• The Fairness Doctrine has been removed from American media. Restore this law.
• To reclaim audiences lost to social media, networks should focus on analysis rather than reporting.
• Voluntary code of ethics for social media - remove false claims, remove bots, etc. This could be done with good algorithms!
• Reduce disinformation from the demand side....this could be a big part of public education. Train students to recognize fake news and online conspiracy. Media literacy is becoming more and more important. Verify news stories from multiple news providers. Teach them to fact check School children and adults need this.
• Public service campaigns to persuade people to use diligence when amplifying messages. This reminded me of The Dignity Index that has been created.
• Increase face to face discussions in real public squares. Seclusion makes matters worse.
• Vote and be an informed voter.
  
• Install rank choice voting....this prevents two popular candidates from splitting the vote and having a less popular candidate come up through the middle.
• Prosecute people who threaten and harass public servants.
• Hate crime laws must be enforced vigorously. 
• Speak up when people post threats.
• Combat corruption. No one is above the law. 

Goodreads (as well as the Amazon website since it was clear Goodreads was missing some of the summary) says:

An urgent, comprehensive explanation of the ways disinformation is impacting democracy, and practical solutions that can be pursued to strengthen the public, media, and truth-based politics. The book includes:

• The authoritarian playbook: a brief history of disinformation from Mussolini and Hitler to Bolsonaro and Trump, chronicles the ways in which authoritarians have used disinformation to seize and retain power.
• Disinformation tactics—like demonizing the other, seducing with nostalgia, silencing critics, muzzling the media, condemning the courts; stoking violence—and reasons why they work.
• An explanation of why America is particularly vulnerable to disinformation and how it exploits our First Amendment Freedoms, sparks threats and violence, and destabilizes social structures.
• Real, accessible solutions for countering disinformation and maintaining the rule of law such as making domestic terrorism a federal crime, increasing media literacy in schools, criminalizing doxxing, and much more.

American society is more polarized than ever before. We are strategically being pushed apart by disinformation—the deliberate spreading of lies disguised as truth—and it comes at us from all opportunists on the far right, Russian misinformed social media influencers, among others. It's endangering our democracy and causing havoc in our electoral system, schools, hospitals, workplaces, and in our Capitol. Advances in technology including rapid developments in artificial intelligence threaten to make the problems even worse by amplifying false claims and manufacturing credibility.

In Attack from Within, legal scholar and analyst Barbara McQuade, shows us how to identify the ways disinformation is seeping into all facets of our society and how we can fight against it. 


Disinformation is designed to evoke a strong emotional response to push us toward more extreme views, unable to find common ground with others. The false claims that led to the breathtaking attack on our Capitol in 2020 may have been only a dress rehearsal. Attack from Within shows us how to prevent it from happening again, thus preserving our country’s hard-won democracy.

When We Were Shadows (Janet Wees)

 

I know Janet and know how hard she worked on this book. She used to sub at my school and would talk about it a lot. I love WWII stories. I had trouble with the voice in this story though. It's told from the perspective of a little boy and sometimes he does sound like a little boy and sometimes, not at all.

Goodreads says:

The true story of Walter and his Jewish family, who were hidden from capture in the Netherlands throughout the Second World War. The story spans Walter's life from six to fourteen years of age and is accented by Walter's letters, first as a child to his grandparents and later, looking back, to his grandson.

We learn of the strangers who shelter Walter and his family, the members of the Resistance who risked their lives to see them to safety again and again, and of the Hidden Village, a community in the forests of Holland that hid more than 100 people. Throughout, we see the courage and resilience of a boy faced with unimaginable hatred and terror.

Sideways Stories From Wayside School (Louis Sacher)

 

I picked this as a book for our Grade Three book club. My thinking was that it is the beginning of a series and if the super fast readers finish it they could continue on to the other books in the series. It's an older book (published in 1978) and there are a lot of things you just wouldn't see in books these days. The word stupid is used a lot, as well as fat and more. A lot of it is in the name of humor. It will be interesting to see if my students think it was funny or if they felt as uncomfortable with it as I did.

Goodreads says:

There was a terrible mistake - Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor.