The Road Less Traveled

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell writes about “Connectors,” people who are responsible for spreading “social epidemics” to others.  He has a test in the book that lists 250 surnames taken at random from the Manhattan phone book.  The task is to go down the list and give yourself a point every time you see a surname that is shared by someone you know.  Here is the list:

Algazi, Alvarez, Alpern, Ametrano, Andrews, Aran, Arnstein, Ashford, Bailey Ballout, Bamberger, Baptista, Barr, Barrows, Baskerville, Bassiri, Bell, Bokgese, Brandao, Bravo, Brooke, Brightman, Billy, Blau, Bohen, Bohn, Borsuk, Brendle, Butler, Calle, Cantwell, Carrell, Chinlund, Cirker, Cohen, Collas, Couch, Callegher, Calcaterra, Cook, Carey, Cassell, Chen, Chung, Clarke, Cohn, Carton, Crowley, Curbelo, Dellamanna, Diaz, Dirar, Duncan, Dagostino, Delakas, Dillon, Donaghey, Daly, Dawson, Edery, Ellis, Elliott, Eastman, Easton, Famous, Fermin, Fialco, Finklestein, Farber, Falkin, Feinman, Friedman, Gardner, Gelpi, Glascock, Grandfield, Greenbaum Greenwood, Gruber, Garil, Goff, Gladwell, Greenup, Gannon, Ganshaw, Garcia, Gennis, Gerard, Gericke, Gilbert, Glassman, Glazer, Gomendio, Gonzalez, Greenstein, Guglielmo, Gurman, Haberkorn, Hoskins, Hussein, Hamm, Hardwick, Harrell, Hauptman, Hawkins, Henderson, Hayman, Hibara, Hehmann, Herbst, Hedges, Hogan, Hoffman, Horowitz, Hsu, Huber, Ikiz, Jaroschy, Johann, Jacobs, Jara, Johnson, Kassel, Keegan, Kuroda, Kavanau, Keller, Kevill, Kiew, Kimbrough, Kline, Kossoff, Kotzitzky, Kahn, Kiesler, Kosser, Korte, Leibowitz, Lin, Liu, Lowrance, Lundh, Laux, Leifer, Leung, Levine, Leiw, Lockwood, Logrono, Lohnes, Lowet, Laber, Leonardi, Marten, McLean, Michaels, Miranda, Moy, Marin, Muir, Murphy, Marodon, Matos, Mendoza, Muraki, Neck, Needham, Noboa, Null, O’Flynn, O’Neill, Orlowski, Perkins, Pieper, Pierre, Pons, Pruska, Paulino, Popper, Potter, Purpura, Palma, Perez, Portocarrero, Punwasi, Rader, Rankin, Ray, Reyes, Richardson, Ritter, Roos, Rose, Rosenfeld, Roth, Rutherford, Rustin, Ramos, Regan, Reisman, Renkert, Roberts, Rowan, Rene, Rosario, Rothbart, Saperstein, Schoenbrod, Schwed, Sears, Statosky, Sutphen, Sheehy, Silverton, Silverman, Silverstein, Sklar, Slotkin, Speros, Stollman, Sadowski, Schles, Shapiro, Sigdel, Snow, Spencer, Steinkol, Stewart, Stires, Stopnik, Stonehill, Tayss, Tilney, Temple, Torfield, Townsend, Trimpin, Turchin, Villa, Vasillov, Voda, Waring, Weber, Weinstein, Wang, Wegimont, Weed, Weishaus.  

When I took this test, I scored a 72.  Gladwell says that “the first–and most obvious–criterion is that Connectors know lots of people.”  One of my close high school friends used to joke that I know everyone because whenever we were out, I would see four or five people or more that I knew.  There was a running joke that if I went to a different state, I would still see someone I know.

I never took this joke seriously until a few years ago my wife and I were at King’s Island and I bumped into a lady I used to teach with.  The next summer, I was in line for a ride at Cedar Point and realized I was just a few people behind one of the school counselors at GW. 

Wait… it gets better.  The following year, I traveled to Disney World with my wife and kids.  Keep in mind that Disney has four parks, each of which has hundreds if not thousands of people in attendance.  We were walking through Magic Kingdom when I spotted a student of mine and her father, sitting on a bench.

Gladwell says, “Sprinkled among every walk of life, in other words, are a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances. They are Connectors.”  I don’t know if I’m a connector or not, but I do know a lot of people.  Gladwell also points out that most people score around 20 or less.

It isn’t hard to believe that I know a lot of people.  I have worked in fast food, retail, and at the local movie theater.  And as a teacher, I have approximately 125 students and I get to know many of their parents, as well.  So I get the opportunity to get to know 200+ people a year.  And I’m grateful for every one of them.

Try this test out and see how you score.  I was thinking of trying it with a local phone book, but I don’t know if it would be as effective.

Until later– “There’s no turning back now that you opened up to your mind.”

Another clever video.  This one is really similar to The Connected Classroom, with some slightly more catchy background music.

Download Video: Posted by bionicteaching at TeacherTube.com.

This is a very similar video to Did You Know 2.0 but is more focused for teachers.  Before watching this video, I had my room set up in rows because I was taught in college that it was the best set up for maintaining classroom management.  After, though, my desks are arranged in clusters of five.

Download Video: Posted by khokanson at TeacherTube.com.

I think I may start a series of videos on education and technology to post on this blog for anyone who has not seen them yet.  I’m not as frightened of the 21st century as many others are but I am also a fast learner when it comes to technology.  I think, though, one of the reasons so many people are worried is because now we have no choice but to learn and grow.

In The World is Flat:  A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman interviewed Nandan Nilekani, CEO for Infosyst Technologies Limited.  Nadan said, “The playing field is being leveled” and that America is going to be challenged but “… the challenge would be good for America because we are always at our best when we are being challenged” (Friedman, 7).

I love a challenge.  I don’t always rise to the occasion, but I do believe that people are at their best when being challenged.  That is an important thing to understand as a teacher.  Increase expectations, challenge students, and you will see the best in them.  They may not all meet the expectations, but they will be amazed by how hard they worked to try.

Until later– “There’s no turning back now that you opened up to your mind.”

This is a great video.  I showed it to my students and they were amazed.  The end of the video is an special message for parents on how to prepare their child for the 21st century.  This video may change the way you view the future.

Download Video: Posted by mcleod at TeacherTube.com.

Let me know what you think, your reactions to the video.

I found this video on teachertube.com (a school accepted video site for teachers).  It is a brief history of the United States of America set to the tune of “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

Download Video: Posted by mrallsop at TeacherTube.com.

I love finding amazing things like this.  This is funny, informative, catchy.  I love the South Park inspired Civil Rights Movement animations at the beginning.

For my next post, I’ll put up a video that a lot of you may have already seen:  “Did You Know 2.0″  It is essential viewing for anyone who wants to know what is up with our world right now and what all the big fuss is about for 21st century learning.