After doing laundry today, I decided to start reading John Medina's seemingly popular (at least according to Amazon reviews) Brain Rules.
This is not the kind of book I would pick up on my own, so the story behind how I ended up with it in my hands is a bit interesting (maybe).
It was a dark and stormy night and I was sitting in the back of the classroom with the other delinquents in my Honor's course: The Divine Comedy of Dante. I was participating in typical delinquent behavior by playing "Zombies Smashed" and "Family Feud" on my Asus Transformer Tablet (Product placement. You're welcome, Asus.) instead of paying attention. I was bored out of my skull because the Prof. (who has an amazing radio-host voice by the way) had spent the last 45 minutes reviewing everything we did in the previous class. I wanted to shoot myself, but instead I decided to share my misery with the world via Facebook (Thank you, FB for saving my life). And I get a comment from someone on my friends list--a teacher at my former high school, who I don't really remember, but ended up being FB friends with somehow--recommending a book that my Prof. might benefit from reading. That book was ... you guessed it--Brain Rules by John Medina.
I was interested in the book after reading the details on Amazon, but I'm a poor college student and my Books-for-Pleasure budget was a bit depleted at the time. That was part one of Operation Acquire Brain Rules.
For the next step, you need to know that I'm a member of the Teacher Opportunity Corps program at my school, TOC for short. Get more info here if you're interested:http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/resteachers/toc.html Being the nerd that I am, I emailed the coordinator (who is a rockin' cool lady named Pat) to suggest that Brain Rules might be a good addition to our developing teacher library. Next thing I know she's suggesting that I read it and possibly lead a discussion for the other corps members. My first thoughts? Ahh, Pat, why? You know how busy I am and you give me additional homework. You mean, mean woman! Just kidding. In the end, I agreed to do so as soon as I was able to buy the book. Faster than I can say YOLO, she's offering to purchase the book for me and sending me an email telling me that it's ready to pick up whenever I have time to drop by.
And with that my friends, Operation Acquire Brain Rules (for free) was accomplished.
So, what is Brain Rules actually about? I'm so glad you asked that question. The book is organized around twelve "brain rules," or twelve facts about the brain and how it works that scientists have essentially all agreed to be true. After explaining each brain rule, Medina offers some suggestions for us to utilize those principles at work, home, and school. I expected a very dry read because of the very sciency subject matter. However, Medina has done an amazing job of keeping the language very reader-friendly. You don't have to be a fellow scientist (because I am clearly not) to enjoy reading the book (which I currently am). Medina also has a sense of humor, which is expressed throughout the whole book. Never thought I would see the day where I would be thoroughly amused while learning about the structure of the brain.
Below are two quotes from the second chapter that I found exceptionally funny and that may give you a glance of Medina's brand of humor:
This is not the kind of book I would pick up on my own, so the story behind how I ended up with it in my hands is a bit interesting (maybe).
It was a dark and stormy night and I was sitting in the back of the classroom with the other delinquents in my Honor's course: The Divine Comedy of Dante. I was participating in typical delinquent behavior by playing "Zombies Smashed" and "Family Feud" on my Asus Transformer Tablet (Product placement. You're welcome, Asus.) instead of paying attention. I was bored out of my skull because the Prof. (who has an amazing radio-host voice by the way) had spent the last 45 minutes reviewing everything we did in the previous class. I wanted to shoot myself, but instead I decided to share my misery with the world via Facebook (Thank you, FB for saving my life). And I get a comment from someone on my friends list--a teacher at my former high school, who I don't really remember, but ended up being FB friends with somehow--recommending a book that my Prof. might benefit from reading. That book was ... you guessed it--Brain Rules by John Medina.
I was interested in the book after reading the details on Amazon, but I'm a poor college student and my Books-for-Pleasure budget was a bit depleted at the time. That was part one of Operation Acquire Brain Rules.
For the next step, you need to know that I'm a member of the Teacher Opportunity Corps program at my school, TOC for short. Get more info here if you're interested:http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/resteachers/toc.html Being the nerd that I am, I emailed the coordinator (who is a rockin' cool lady named Pat) to suggest that Brain Rules might be a good addition to our developing teacher library. Next thing I know she's suggesting that I read it and possibly lead a discussion for the other corps members. My first thoughts? Ahh, Pat, why? You know how busy I am and you give me additional homework. You mean, mean woman! Just kidding. In the end, I agreed to do so as soon as I was able to buy the book. Faster than I can say YOLO, she's offering to purchase the book for me and sending me an email telling me that it's ready to pick up whenever I have time to drop by.
And with that my friends, Operation Acquire Brain Rules (for free) was accomplished.
So, what is Brain Rules actually about? I'm so glad you asked that question. The book is organized around twelve "brain rules," or twelve facts about the brain and how it works that scientists have essentially all agreed to be true. After explaining each brain rule, Medina offers some suggestions for us to utilize those principles at work, home, and school. I expected a very dry read because of the very sciency subject matter. However, Medina has done an amazing job of keeping the language very reader-friendly. You don't have to be a fellow scientist (because I am clearly not) to enjoy reading the book (which I currently am). Medina also has a sense of humor, which is expressed throughout the whole book. Never thought I would see the day where I would be thoroughly amused while learning about the structure of the brain.
Below are two quotes from the second chapter that I found exceptionally funny and that may give you a glance of Medina's brand of humor:
"In short this region [prefrontal cortex] controls many of the behaviors that seperate us from other animals. And teenagers." (p. 40)
"Most of its [Paleomammalian brain] functions involve what some researchers call the "four F's": fighting, feeding, fleeing, and ... reproductive behavior." (p. 40)
See! Nerdy humor is the best kind of humor. I love it. Can't wait to keep reading.
Intellectually Yours,
Fatuma, Book Rants
The Rantings and Ravings of a Crazy Book Lady
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