Reviving the Woolly Mammoth!

There's been some big news on the mammoth front this week.  First, it was reported that Russian scientists found a mammoth with liquid blood still remaining.  Then TED posted the following talk:

All of this points to one simple fact: we might actually be able to revive the woolly mammoth!  Let me give you a minute to let that sink in.

I know!  This is the most exciting news I've heard in a long time.  I've held a fascination with mammoths for as long as I can remember and the idea of bringing them back to life is something I've dreamed about for years.  And now you're telling me it could be possible?!  Let's get it done!  Like, right now.  I want to see a live mammoth before I die.  But Hendrik Poinar at the end of his talk asks us to think about whether or not we should do this.  He wants us to really have a conversation before we proceed with this action.  So that's what I'm here to do, converse.  The idea of whether we should bring back the mammoth immediately reminded me of Jeff Goldblum's line in Jurassic Park.  He says, "your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."  John Hammond's retort is that no one would complain if he cloned condors and Ian Malcolm replies that dinosaurs had their chance and nature selected them for extinction.  So did nature select mammoths for extinction?  Maybe, but maybe not.  The presence of humans certainly had something to do with their extinction.  The same can't be said for dinosaurs.  Isolated populations of mammoths still existed as early as 4000-6000 years ago.  That's relatively recent in the Earth's lifespan.  There are climates and locales that will support the existence of mammoths.  So I say let's do it.  Who knows, maybe seeing live mammoths will help us learn more about early humans.  I know it's a stretch, but I think it's a jump worth making.  But what do you all think?  Should we bring back the mammoth?

If Curiosity Killed the Cat, Then I Would Be a Dead Cat

Walt Disney listed Curiosity as one of his Four C's, the secret to making dreams come true.  And I believe it.  Curiosity leads to new discoveries and new discoveries open up limitless possibilities.  I'm often distracted by my own curiosities and my inquisitive nature often leads me down paths I could have never imagined.  Today, I have two examples of curiosity that I would like to share with all of you.

First, I was watching the new miniseries on Discovery Channel, North America.  As part of the show they had a behind the scenes segment.  This particular segment showed how the filmmakers attempted to get underwater footage of brown bears fishing for salmon.  In order to do this utilized a remote controlled underwater camera.  What they didn't account for was the curiosity of the bears.  The bears investigated this new "creature", swatting at it, sniffing it, and even attempting to taste it.  All in all it made for some very compelling television.  But it just to goes to show you that humans are not the only naturally curious beings on the planet.  Animals also like to investigate and explore, and it was fascinating to watch these bears try to figure out what the camera was.

After the episode of North America was over, I searched for something else to watch.  While perusing the channel guide, I came across a show titled Cicadas and Invaders 2013.  Naturally, I was intrigued, so I flipped to it.  I was immediately hooked.  The show counted the top 20 swarms of creatures around the world, while also breaking down the life of a cicada.  My curiosity of simply wanting to see what this show was all about led me to learn about Cuban Land Crabs, the air dance of the starling, and the fact that when a bee stings you it releases pheromones that alert other bees to the attack.  Fascinating.

Curiosity is good.  Curiosity leads to learning.  Curiosity is natural.  How often do you act on your curious instincts?  What are you curious about?  Feel free to share any examples of when you let your curiosity take over.

I Am Poem

Today's post joins two things that I am passionate about: poetry and reflection.  I love writing poetry because it is very expressive and creative.  And reflection is such a valuable tool that we should really be taking more advantage of.  We learn so much through reflection.  So today I am sharing an I Am Poem, which is a reflection tool I picked up at a leadership conference.  Here's how it works:

1st Stanza
1. I am (two special qualities about yourself)
2. I wonder (something you are actually curious about)
3. I hear (sounds you enjoy)
4. I see (your favorite sights)
5. I want (an actual desire)
6. I am (repeat the first line of the poem)

2nd Stanza
1. I imagine (a place or situation other than here)
2. I feel (feeling you experience in your daily living)
3. I touch (or influence someone or something)
4. I worry (something that concerns you)
5. I cry (something that makes you sad)
6. I am (repeat the first line of the poem)

3rd Stanza
1. I understand (something you know is true)
2. I say (something you believe in)
3. I dream (something you hope for)
4. I try (something you really make an effort to do)
5. I hope (something you actually hope for)
6. I am (repeat the first line of the poem)

And here is my version:

I am creative and unique

I wonder if we’ll ever find life in outer space

I hear the trains at night

I see a baseball game

I want to make a difference in the world

I am creative and unique

I imagine a world with Woolly Mammoths

I feel anxious

I influence the students I work with

I worry that I will never find true love

I cry because people don’t want to get to know the real me

I am creative and unique

I understand that everyone is different

I say you should always be trying to make yourself better

I dream about writing a best selling book

I try to make the world a better place than how I found it

I hope that I will be remembered as a good person

I am creative and unique

I invite all of you to write your own I Am Poem and share it with your friends.

Cool Job Titles I Wish I Had

Recently I have come across some cool sounding job titles that I think would be awesome to hold.  Now I'm not saying I actually want the jobs that come with these titles, but it would be fun to introduce yourself as such.  Not that my title, Strategic Learning Specialist, is boring by any means, but these just sound so much cooler.

Deception Specialist - From what I can tell this is basically a magician, but Deception Specialist has a much better ring to it.

Penguinologist - I'm guessing this is someone who knows a lot about penguins.  While I have very little interest in actually studying penguins for a living, how awesome would it be to introduce yourself as a Penguinologist?!  I'm assuming you don't meet one of those very often.

Smarties Expert - This title actually refers to the candy, but still.

Technical Evangelist - I would assume you could 'Evangelist' to just about any job title and make it sound cooler.

Imagineer - Most of you have probably heard this one before because Disney has been using it for decades.  I would actually legitimately like to hold this position.

Chief Happiness Officer - I can't make this stuff up.  This job actually exists!  I don't know what exactly a Chief Happiness Officer does, but I wouldn't mind having it on a business card.

Paper Airplane Engineer - I saw this one on Conan.  The guy designs paper airplanes for a living!  Who knew this even existed!  Again, I wouldn't actually want this job, I just want to be able to introduce myself as one.

Director of Storytelling - Once again, I'm not exactly sure what the job responsibilities of a Director of Storytelling are, but I can sure can tell a story.  I don't even know how to find a job like this.

Well, there you have it, some awesome job titles.  How does yours rank?  Have you heard of some others that should be on this list?  If so, let me know by leaving a comment.

Life's Simple Pleasures

We all have those simple pleasures that make us smile no matter what.  But how many of us actually seek them out to make our bad days good and our good days better?  I try to.  My simple pleasure is root beer.  It just makes me feel good.  I like to try new varieties and keep track of what I've tasted.  This is my running tally of root beers tested.

This is really a paltry number of root beer varieties.  I want to continue to find new types to try.  So for those of you who live outside of Arizona, if you see a root beer brand that I might not be able to find locally, feel free to send it to me.  I would greatly appreciate it.  You see, the thing about simple pleasures is that they don't bring you any pleasure if you don't take advantage of them.  So find yours, and start smiling more.

TED Talk Commentary

Recently, TED and PBS collaborated on a special featuring talks regarding education in our country.  I've spent the past few days watching the talks.  You can find them all here:
TED Talks Education

I do have a few thoughts, however, on what I heard.  First let me say, that most of the speakers have hit the nail on the head.  We are still using an antiquated education system that puts too much emphasis on passing standardized tests and not enough emphasis on learning.  In order to fix this system, it's not about devoting more money or reducing class sizes.  It's about revamping how we teach.  It's about instilling curiosity in our students and making the information rigorous and relevant.  And it's about caring about the student, not the number he or she produces on the test.

And speaking of standardized tests, how do the tests measure what students learn?  Seriously, I'm asking.  How do they?  With so much emphasis placed on performing well on standardized testing, how can we expect teachers to be creative and inspiring?  And why do we think teachers will want to stay in this profession when they don't have the freedom to teach more effectively?  The answer is, we can't.  Which is why we need a change.

Many of the speakers, including Rita Pierson, Pearl Arredondo, and Geoffrey Canada, talked about caring for the student as a person.  They each brought up instances of inspiring positive thinking and showing your belief in the student.  How do we train our teachers to be better at that?  As a former teacher I can tell you there was a lot of talk about it, but no training as to how to do it.  Maybe there should be.

And Ramsey Musallam talked about instilling curiosity in our students and using that to inspire our teaching. Walt Disney listed Curiosity as the most important of his Four C's.  Curiosity leads to questions, which lead to learning.  We should be encouraging students to take ownership of their own learning, not forcing them to learn what we want when we want.  We should be giving students the skills they need to be lifelong learners.  And that begins by encouraging curiosity.

There was a lot of good discussion brought up in these talks.  And it is discussion that needs to happen if we expect the state of education to get any better.  But discussion alone isn't going to get us anywhere.  Many of the speakers are implementing the changes they discuss on the small scale, but how can we start implementing these changes on a larger scale?  How can we start to abandon our ancient philosophy of education and move into a new, more effective way of thinking in regards to educating our future generations?  I wish I had the answer, but discussion is the start.  I applaud, better yet, I high five, TED and PBS and all the speakers for initiating the conversation.  And I encourage all of you to watch the talks, share them, and keep the discussion going.  I also encourage you to leave comments here regarding anything I may have said.  Thank you and I hope you enjoyed reading.

Awe-Inspiring Moments of Supreme Coolness

In my recent travels to Washington D.C. I saw many cool sights.  I was able to see the Capitol Building from my hotel room, said hello to Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., and knocked on the White House door (not really, but I did walk by).  But perhaps the coolest thing I saw during the whole trip was at the Air and Space Museum.

While perusing the many galleries in the museum, I saw the Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 Command Module, some sort of spy plane, and many other cool air and space marvels.  But it wasn't until I ventured into the Wright Brothers exhibit that my mind was completely blown.  The exhibit had a lot of history about the entire Wright family, detailing their life in Dayton and work with bicycles.

I learned all about their experiments with flight and how wing warping was the key to sustained powered flight.  And in the middle of the exhibit hall was what I thought was a replica of the plane they flew in Kitty Hawk in 1903.

I say thought because it turns out this was no replica.  This was in fact the actual plane that the Wright Brothers flew in 1903!  Let me repeat that.  This was the actual plane that the Wright Brothers flew in 1903! Once I read that I stood in awe for a few minutes taking it all in.  I was standing in the presence of the first airplane.  There are some things that are so awe-inspiring and supremely cool that you can't help being blown away.  This is one of them.  It's the Wright Brothers' plane!!!!!  In terms of historical significance, few things can compare to this.  And here I was standing next to it!

This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  I have a feeling I won't be able to stop talking about it for a while.  The actual plane the Wright Brothers flew in 1903!!!  Here are some more pictures for you to enjoy.  But I will admit, pictures don't do it justice.