Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Seriously...

If learning for fun creates more connections than "serious learning" did, I can no longer look at "serious learning" seriously.Simpson's pinball machine (art on the side of it)
SandraDodd.com/schoolinmyhead
photo by Sandra Dodd

Monday, April 21, 2014

Already full

fat spotty wonga pigeon on a fence with tree fronds behind

"I don't need to stuff him full of who I need him to be, because he's already full of who he is."

—Schuyler Waynforth
March 29, 2014
Gold Coast symposium

SandraDodd.com/understanding
photo by Sandra Dodd of a wonga pigeon at Schuyler's
(The quote is about her son, not about a pigeon.)

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Open and sensible

chocolate Easter bilbyExploring the world (including food) needs to be done in a supported and supportive way, in an open and non-fearful way, in a sensible and sensitive way.
SandraDodd.com/food
photo by Sandra Dodd, of a chocolate Bilby in Australia
(which I bought and ate)

Saturday, April 19, 2014

See what you see

Things don't need to be colorful to be fun.

Ordinary can be colorful. Plain can be exotic.
SandraDodd.com/unschool/sparkly
photo by Sandra Dodd (click for another view)
__ __

Friday, April 18, 2014

A different place

"Your perspective will change when you've experienced new things, seen the world from a different place."
—Debbie Regan
The quote above inspired this page:
SandraDodd.com/readalittle
photo by Sandra Dodd

Thursday, April 17, 2014

To get more jokes

When I was a student I often asked why something was important to learn, but my teachers rarely had good answers.

When I was a teacher, I was asked those things too.

Then one day, the question came phrased a new and better way: "What is this GOOD for?" The answer I gave then changed my life and thinking. I said quickly "So you can get more jokes." I think we were reading a simplified Romeo and Juliet at the time. I could've gone into literature and history and fine arts, but the truth is that the best and most immediate use of most random learning is that it illuminates the world.

The more we know, the more jokes we will get.

The larger paragraph above is from:
To Get More Jokes
or
"Thinking and Learning and Bears"
by Sandra Dodd, 2007

photo by Sandra Dodd, of Holly Dodd dressed for a costume party

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Something old. . . something blue

antique blue pickup

Something old, something new,
something borrowed, something blue."
—traditional English saying about what brides should wear

"And all of this is true because it rhymes."
—Vitruvius, in The Lego Movie

Look for beauty, truth and humor. Connect the dots!

SandraDodd.com/connections
photo by Sandra Dodd
__