Aleta's Book Report

by Norman Doidge visit his website Kelly Lambert recommended this book while she spoke at the DKG Southeast Regional Conference, and I downloaded it to my Kindle that day. I have learned so much about the brain repairing itself from this book! It is amazing what the brain can do in its "plasticity." HAving suffered some brain function loss after a "tick fever," I have experienced some use of new and improved brain areas. I am really glad to be able to learn student names again, but my calendar skills still need help - me, who was like Rainman with a calendar and math! I had to read the first chapter to my A&P 2 students. This chapter was about a woman who had NO sense of balance. Her "scientists" used her tongue! to send balance information to her brain! I have met many great people through this book. Dr. Edward Taub developed constrain-induced therapy to help stroke victim regain use of affected limbs. Barbara Arrowsmith Young (who cured hers

by Kelly Lambert visit her website I am a crochet-er and have been for years, so when I heard a woman talking about how the hand-mind connection was a treatment for depression (on NPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge last fall), I perked up. She discussed how our society has worked so hard to automate things, when we actually need to do hand work to keep a healthy mind. Okay, that was my first exposure! I attended the Delta Kappa Gamma Southeast Regional Conference this summer in Little Rock - and there she was, talking about depression and the need for people to work with their hands. Kelly discussed her book and the effort-driven rewards system. She explained that making things for others made us feel good. Well, maybe I have always known that! I hardly sit down without a project in my hands! Her book is a joy to read, and can really help each of us deal with down times and maybe understand those who live in depression daily. I have decided that I will read this book to my

by Michael Pollan Pollan makes several statements in this book which should hit us all pretty hard. One rule to eating "right" would be "don't buy anything in the grocery store your great-grandmother would not recognize." His point is that the processing of food is what has led to a "western diet" and the ills associated with that diet. Nutrition science has stripped natural foods of the good stuff and replaced with synthetic, poor mimics of those nutrients. He mentions that usually the only area of a grocery store we should visit would be the area around the "edges." Think about that - I find that in the last few years, that is where I do 90% of my food shopping. This is a slow read, but it is full of "a-ha" moments. I will report more on this later.

by Malcolm Gladwell I have been negligent in regards to my MSTA book blog. Most of my recently read books have not been science related, but great books. This book actually came on my new, but used Kindle. So I read it. I learned so much about people, and thereby, teaching from this book that I wish every teacher would read it. It is about patterns, in numbers, in culture, in dates, in successes. Stories from Bill Gates, to Korean Air plane crashes. The 10,000 hour rule to being good at anything jumped out at me. The only thing I may have spent 10,000 hours in is reading, and maybe crocheting, and definitely teaching. I liked this book so much, that I have downloaded Gladwell's other books to my Kindle. I'll report on those soon!