Steven Johnson on Commonplace Books

Sticking with the themes of my initial posts, I will continue redefining the mission of this site through the lens of Steven Johnson (the author I focused upon in my last post).

From the transcript of Johnson's lecture entitled The Glass Box and the Commonplace Book 
"Each rereading of the commonplace book becomes a new kind of revelation. You see the evolutionary paths of all your past hunches: the ones that turned out to be red herrings; the ones that turned out to be too obvious to write; even the ones that turned into entire books. But each encounter holds the promise that some long-forgotten hunch will connect in a new way with some emerging obsession."

To just add on to this trajectory, below is an additional talk by Steven Johnson (again, derived from concepts covered in his book: Where Good Ideas Come From).  This TED talk focuses on his concept of liquid networks.  By isolating the reason why 'coffee houses' were such hotbeds of innovation during the Enlightenment as his launch (fun fact: its not the coffee), this video presents an idea that mirrors social constructivism.

Fostering Innovation In Our Students

Classrooms are like collections of innovators.  Each student brings with them their own unique background and come together to join in on a community of thinkers and collaborators.  

Over the recent years there has been a surge of research and writings on the concept of collaborative groups and innovation.  Whenever I read about them, the possible parallels within education always jumped out at me.  As a teacher, it is my duty to work toward facilitating individual and group growth within the microcosm of the classroom.

Why not model a learning community after an environment geared towards collaborative innovation?

I have recently been reading a lot of nonfiction works that revolve around the topic of innovation, collaboration, and design.  One particularly gripping work by the author Steven Johnson.  A few years ago I took a class titled Biology: Technology of the Future.  The class used Steven Johnson's book Where Good Ideas Come From as its foundational text.  The concepts in the book resonated with me on not only a personal level, but on a professional one.   

Amazon's Book Description:

The printing press, the pencil, the flush toilet, the battery—these are all great ideas. But where do they come from? What kind of environment breeds them? What sparks the flash of brilliance? How do we generate the breakthrough technologies that push forward our lives, our society, our culture? Steven Johnson’s answers are revelatory as he identifies the seven key patterns behind genuine innovation, and traces them across time and disciplines. From Darwin and Freud to the halls of Google and Apple, Johnson investigates the innovation hubs throughout modern time and pulls out applicable approaches and commonalities that seem to appear at moments of originality. Where Good Ideas Come From gives us both an important new understanding of the history of innovation and a set of useful strategies for cultivating our own creative breakthroughs.

Equity in Education

Jeff Duncan-Andrade - "Growing Roses in Concrete"

[TEDxGoldenGateED]

This powerful TED talk by professor Jeff Duncan-Andrade is one that every educator should 

see. He is a teacher, a professor, and an integral part of the organization Roses in Concrete.  
Their vision to create an system that provides equitable education [and services] to urban students is one 
that I have no doubt will change the landscape of education.

The role of teacher is multifacited and complex, yet the role of advocate for one's students

is the foundation from which the rest is built.  These educators are role models not only to 

their students, but to teachers everywhere.

Here is the Project Description from their website:

"Our short-term goal is to start a K-12 school-center in Oakland that embodies the principles 

and practices described above.  The school will function as the center within the neighborhoods 

surrounding it and provide wrap-around services in education, health, housing, and job training.

The long-term goal is to create a model for urban education that prioritizes the needs of youth 

and families as the pathway to building healthy and sustainable communities across the U.S. 

and around the world. 

make space

As made evidenced by the banner of this website (and the title of my classroom website), I hold the book Make Space: How to Set the Stage for Creative Collaboration in high regard.  I even have it along side the physical copy of my commonplace book. 

Make Space is a book put out by the d.school [design school] at Stanford.  It was created to help people create spaces that foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration (all three ideas build a foundation from which classrooms should be build). 

This book is has multiple types of entries interwoven to maintain engagement and provide multiple entry points throughout the text.  The different sections are: 

• "Tools--tips on how to build everything from furniture, to wall treatments, and rigging
• Situations--scenarios, and layouts for sparking creative activities
• Insights--bite-sized lessons designed to shortcut your learning curve
• Space Studies--candid stories with lessons on creating spaces for making, learning, imagining, and connecting
• Design Template--a framework for understanding, planning, and building collaborative environments"

I use this book to give me ideas for things to build in my classroom, how I should structure the space to optimize flow, and just as a source to spark classroom design ideas.  I will have many posts taken directly from my journal [which in turn was inspired by this book].  I regularly use it as a reference to help me synthesize my image of a perfect classroom [one that is always changing].

Contemporary design is a passion of mine, and this book only fans the flames.

Amazon Description: 

"If you are determined to encourage creativity and provide a collaborative environment that will bring out the best in people, you will want this book by your side at all times." --Bill Moggridge, Director of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

"Make Space is an articulate account about the importance of space; how we think about it, build it and thrive in it." --James P. Hackett, President and CEO, Steelcase

An inspiring guidebook filled with ways to alter space to fuel creative work and foster collaboration.

Based on the work at the Stanford University d.school and its Environments Collaborative Initiative, Make Space is a tool that shows how space can be intentionally manipulated to ignite creativity. Appropriate for designers charged with creating new spaces or anyone interested in revamping an existing space, this guide offers novel and non-obvious strategies for changing surroundings specifically to enhance the ways in which teams and individuals communicate, work, play--and innovate.

Make Space is a new and dynamic resource for activating creativity, communication and innovation across institutions, corporations, teams, and schools alike. Filled with tips and instructions that can be approached from a wide variety of angles, Make Space is a ready resource for empowering anyone to take control of an environment.

Mission Statement

It has been a long journey getting to this point.  After years of undergraduate education, and over nine months of graduate school (seven of which were spend in my classroom), I am finally ready to take this next step.

Over this past year, I have been creating my own commonplace book:

A page from my commonplace book.

Another page from my commonplace book.

I have slowly been building a personal tome, chronicling various teaching ideas and practices that I have encountered.  Teaching, like learning (in a way those words are synonymous) is never static.     

To continually push my understanding and progress in this ancient trade, it is time to transfer my commonplace book to a more public setting.  Since the essence of the commonplace book is the idea that there is a social construction of learning and understanding, it is my desire to enter into a dialogue with educators, parents, and students from around the world.  The commonplace book need not solely be a conversation with texts and my own thoughts, but other active voices should be brought in.  

And with this idea at its heart, I have decided to create this blog to reflect my personal commonplace book.  When I make entries into my physical book, I will also publish them here.  My hope is that slowly over time this medium will evolve into its own unique thought experiment, complimenting [instead of solely mirroring] my physical commonplace book.