It's 11:33pm

and I'm not in bed yet. This isn't good. I have been taking classes this summer (hence my lack of posting) and I have turned into a night owl. While I definitely prefer early mornings to late nights, I must say it's quite the experience to be wide awake at 11:30. I feel like I'm just getting started with my day. NOT. GOOD.

The classes I've been taking this summer (first block classes) have really stretched my thinking. I have LOVED it. My two favorite classes are my Educational Psychology class and a Multicultural class. My Ed Psych class is so intense. I have spent hours and hours and hours reading. While it's been a little rough getting used to reading so much I have loved what I've gained from it. We studied the development of the brain, individual motivation and self-efficacy and how these two factors directly influence an individuals success and/or failure. It's fascinating.



We also studied multiple theories on moral development, social development, cognitive development (going back to the brain and it's many functions), and many learning theories (behavioral vs cognitive vs social cognitive theory). It has been amazing!!!! I wouldn't mind taking some time to seriously study psychology. I think it would help me understand all the stupid people in the world. No, not stupid - just not fully developed. You see, now when I look at someone who just irritates the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of me, I can analyze them based off of what little I've been exposed to. by analyzing them I am less likely going to desire to attack them (you better believe I have a certain individual...or two...in mind).

So, why do you care? Well, you should care because I'm more than likely going to analyze you at some point in time. Not because I think I've been empowered with all the tools necessary to accurately analyze, oh no. You see, I'm also analyzing myself: what motivates me and why? Am I extrinsically motivated or intrinsically motivated? Where do I suffer from low self-efficacy and why? How can I change this? And you better believe I'm trying to figure out how to better practice self-regulation. In order to understand these things in myself I need to be active in meta cognition.

hehe...this is really quite fun. I'll bet I'm annoying the h-e-double-hockey-sticks outta you right now (unless you know what I'm talking about - or what I think I understand I'm talking about).



I'm really enjoying this deeper level of thinking and discussion - authentic conversations - I'm all about it. I'm sick of the light feathery stuff. I like the nitty-gritty. But I'm practicing creating a safe environment so these authentic conversations can take place. We've had many dinner conversations about controversial topics (what the world has titled controversial). I am trying to analyze everything! It's awesome! I'm most likely not accurate a good majority of the time, but so long as it makes sense to me and keeps me from hating you, I'm happy. (by "you" I mean the individuals who aren't "fully developed" yet..you know the stupid people who seem to procreate faster than I can blink..)

My other class, Multicultural Instruction, has stretched me in other ways. We read about and discuss controversial subjects: racism, white privilege, sexism, homosexuality, religion, socioeconomic status, politics, etc. I don't feel my beliefs have changed, but my perspective and understanding has. This is where my deep conversations come into play. I like to SAFELY DISCUSS these issues. Not to say I'm right and you're wrong, or vise-verse, but to gain understanding and insight. I'm totally fine walking away from a conversation without agreeing. The idea of discussing isn't to convince or persuade (something a certain individual needs to read up on), it is to DISCUSS AND GAIN UNDERSTANDING. Imagine that. I can have my beliefs and thoughts on a subject and you can have yours AND WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS. It's called tolerance, respect, and acceptance. Yup. tested, tried, and true. It can happen. I know this because it does happen.

Of all the many things I'm walking away with from my classes the one thing that rings true to me (and you don't have to agree with this) is: it's really unfortunate we have made certain subjects "inappropriate" or "controversial". That, in and of itself, is "inappropriate" and "controversial" to me. We should be able to talk about things openly and honestly. We should be able to trust one another to respect our views and beliefs, even if they don't agree.

I'm trying to do better because I don't want to be like those who claim to be one thing but in the end it's merely lip service. So, to work my way away from becoming like this, I'm going to pose two questions for you to think about. I want you to REALLY think about this...

1) What is "intelligence" (basically I'm asking you to define intelligence in your own words)?

and

2) Is "intelligence" measurable (through testing, observation, etc can you measure an individuals intelligence)?

These are not trick questions. In fact, I'm going to be explicit and tell you there is not a right/wrong answer (authentic conversations, Here we come!!)

I'd share more of my thoughts, which I know you're deeply invested in, but it's now 12:18 and I need to break this late-night bologna.


Peace and love, ya'll.