The Teacher Brain

You know all about the "teacher brain." This is the part of your mind that kicks in when you are casually listening to someone who says something that makes you sit up straight, eyes wide, and see a lesson plan.

Or you are standing, as I was the other day, in line at Peet's Coffee minding your own business when you notice the rack of pamphlets about their products. So you mindlessly pick one up, scan your eyes over the table that tells you how many calories the lowfat banana blueberry muffin has (275 FYI) versus the regular cranberry bran muffin (500 FYI!). Then your brain lights up at the sight of the table and thinks: Heeyyyy, I could create a cool character chart like this, put slots for characters' names down this side and run character traits across the top!

Or you are wondering what you can do with the Odyssey, something that allows them to get into the text but also work in a more collaborative way. You happen to be looking at an image of the Bayeaux Tapestry (see below for an engaging video based on it) and you decide to have your kids create the Odyssean Tapestry. Teacher brain!

And then there is today. I'm sitting here thinking ahead to the coming semester, trying to think about what we need to read, learn about. Poetry is one thing. Then I am listening to my latest audio book American Prometheus, about J. Robert Oppenheimer, and it mentions the periodic table of elements. Teacher brain freeze comes over me: I hear Periodic Table of Poetic Elements! So now I am busy making notes, trying to figure out if I can do this as a wiki, why I should do it, how and when.

 

The point is: the world is our palette. Our work is much more like the tinker's than the artist's on most days: we hunt around to use what we have to do what we dream. Don't get me wrong: there is art in that tinkering.

So be on the look out. Watch the world around you for ideas: They are everywhere.

Comments

[Mrs. McCarthy]

My favorite teacher brain story: Someone I know was at the reception following her mother's funeral. Sitting at a table in the parish hall, she broke down. As she was sobbing, head down, she noticed paper place-mats depicting the United States on the table. Through the tears, she seen something she could use in the classroom and, still crying, she went into the kitchen to see if she could ask for some for her classroom.

[kathleen jensen]

Speaking of the Odyssey, I just started the terrific new retelling by poet Simon Armitage; definitely going to use this year and it's under six bucks at amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Dramatic-Retelling-Homers-Epic/dp/0393330818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262137343&sr=8-1

Love the idea of poetry table of elements.

[Kathryn L. Keene, M.Ed.]

Thank you again, Jim! I was, as they say, LOL with this post. Tonight I'll see the movie, "The Blind Side". I'm sure the film will kick something into gear for one of my classes. Jennifer is right: there is a part of us that is always on duty. In a previous life, I was a flight attendant for USAirways; we were always anxious to be "off duty". Now I'm involved in a career that keeps on keepin' on, and I love it! Thanks for sharing so much with us this year!
KLK :)

[Dana Huff]

I know what you mean, Jim. I for one would love to see a Periodic Table of Poetic Elements and the character chart. Isn't that Bayeux Tapestry video wonderful? I share that when I talk about 1066 in British Lit.

[Meredith (@msstewart)]

I don't think "the ______ brain" is limited to teachers. When I was in divinity school, I was always thinking about how a certain event or bit that I'd read would preach. When I was in law school, I imagined worse case scenarios and defenses. All in all, I'm happiest having a teacher brain.

Have you seen the Poetic Table of Elements? http://www.everypoet.com/absurdities/elements/
It's not what you're thinking about, but rather poems about or inspired by the elements :)

[Jennifer Ansbach]

This is the part of being a teacher that can't be quantified. Sometimes I feel like there's part of me always on duty, assimilating and analyzing for lesson ideas or examples.

Twitter and the ning make it harder to stop because there are so many people to bounce ideas off of and collaborate with.

I met a physics research once who said that the group that provided his grant could never completely quantify how much theoretical research he did because he was considering the problems while in the shower or while lying in bed at night.

Teacher brain is a lot like that, I think.

PS Can't wait to see your periodic table!

[M Dahms]

I'm so glad not to be the only one who thinks like this. We were looking at a bird book this morning, trying to identify one of our new feathery visitors, and I was thinking of all the different ways we could use that kind of format in school . . .