Artfulness and its Effect on Memory, Learning, and Creative Problem Solving

Kathleen (Shokai) Bishop, MS PHDFlorida Literacy Conference

Friday, May 10, 2013

Garr Reynolds presentationzen

“I think instructors and books can help us become better at presenting well, but ultimately, like many other performance arts, it must grow within us (Reynolds, page 123 ).”

Exercise: See the Color Blue

“Become aware of the color blue wherever it appears in your environment. Look not just for the obvious instances, such as the sky, but also for subtle appearances for all variations of blue (Bays, page 95).”

The Science of Art“So the arts may be useful as a form of learning. …they help us categorize, they increase our predictive power, and they help us react well in different situations…they do contribute to survival (Gazzaniga, page 226).”

The Science of Art Cont.“Pretend play, such as hide-and-seek, can develop skills that are better learned in a play situation than when they may need to be actually used Gazzaniga, page 226).”

The Science of Art Cont.• Neurocognitive Adaptation• Functional Mode• Organizational Mode (page 222)

Exercise: Pay attention to the light

Expand your awareness of light in all its forms, bright and dim, direct and reflected.

The Science of Art Cont.“Art is one of those human universals. All cultures have some form of it, whether it is painting, dance, story, song, or other forms (Gazzaniga, page 205).”

The Science of Art Cont.

“Thus there are two different types of aesthetic judgment, one visceral and automatic, the other conscious and contemplative (Gazzaniga, page 209).”

The Science of Art Cont.

“Aesthetics is a special class of experience, neither a type of response nor an emotion, but a modus operandi of ‘knowing about’ the world. It is sensation with an attached positive or negative evaluation (Gazzaniga, page 208).”

Exercise: Moon Journal“I had them keep a moon journal, and they were to go and look at the moon every night. And I timed it, and it was lucky, the first night there was no moon. I want you to write whatever you want to ... And they kept a journal for the whole time of the summer session (Rendon, page 74).”

Exercise: Photographs

“Norma Cantu incorporated creation process practices through the use of photographs…”She had her students take personal childhood pictures and meditate on them and then write about themselves and their families (Rendon, page 80).”

Share Your Final Thoughts and tips…and

Name one thing you got out of this session that you can take

back to your classroom and try tomorrow?

ReferencesBays, J.C. (2011). How to Train a Wild Elephant & Other Adventures in Mindfulness. Boston: ShambhalaGazzaniga, M.S. (2008). Human The Science Behind What Makes us Unique,

Harper-Collins: NY.Rendon, L.I. (2009) Sentipensante (Sensing/Thinking) Pedagogy, Educating for

wholeness, social justice and liberation. Stylus: VAReynolds, G. (2008). PresentationZen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design

and Delivery. CA: New Riders.