Reading reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? What stuck out to me was the table of the most common idea killers. I have never really thought of what kills an idea but its true that those phrases kill creativity.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
The incongruities section confused me because if no one believed that it was a good idea then how could it have come to be.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why? What happens when you have tried all of the ways of developing creativity do not work? What are ways to improve your brainstorming ability? I ask these questions because while I think I am somewhat creative I am not very good at coming up with new and innovative ideas and I draw a complete blank when I try to brainstorm.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I did not disagree with what the author said in this chapter. A lot of what the author said was very true, like the table on the left and right hemisphere and what each side is associated with. I also agreed with the parts that go into the critical thinking process.

interviewing customers no. 1

This interview was especially intriguing because it opened my eyes to the fact that the reason why teachers may not be treated properly and are losing passion in their jobs because the school system does not have enough funds to properly take care of their employees

I agreed that many teachers in the school system push their kids very hard but then there are some that hate their job and come to work to collect their measly paycheck to pay their bills. Apparently his son William is pushed harder to do well in school here in Gainesville than in Colorado. I think the teachers who do not push their children may have once had a passion in helping the kids but have been beaten down over the years.

 Mr. Nirav did not know much about the school system and how the teachers get paid but he did feel that some teachers have lost passion in what they do and no longer care if the children do not do well. When this happens children lose interest and start to not care about their education either.

 I especially found this interview interesting, she took her grandson out of the public school system because of how the teachers are and how the system works. She felt that her grandson was not getting as good of an education here. I agree with her that the teachers are discouraged and do not want to help the children. I also agree that the reason there is a shortage in teachers in Florida is because they are not treated fairly and paid properly.

 Jessica is a teacher and she agrees completely that teachers are not treated fairly and paid properly. Also that it affects the children. She also said that some of the reason teachers are losing passion is because children's parents sometimes treat the teachers poorly when the teachers are only trying to help the kids.

I chose the school system in Florida and how it treats its teachers to be the opportunity I interviewed 5 people about. I have always heard of the unrest among teachers and how the Florida school system does not treat teachers very fairly. I got some varying opinions and a lot more insight into why the system has its problems and why teachers are not treated quite as well as the deserve to be. After talking to a few people I definitely believe that there is many unmet needs in this area that would serve as good opportunities. From this I learned that interviewing people is very interesting and scary, people are not always so forthcoming when they are told they are going to be recorded. You definitely have to be prepared when conducting interviews with people you do not really know.

Top 5 world problems

The top 5 most important world problems are:
1. War
2. Government
3. World population
4. Diminished fossil fuels
5. Pollution
The top 5 solutions most likely to be implemented
1. Diminished fossil fuels: A world that does not rely on fossil fuels like oil to power everything in there lives, the use of something reusable and recyclable
2. Pollution: More people taking the time to recycle, reusing items instead of just throwing them away, ending the use of landfills
3. World population: More education on pregnancy prevention in schools, not fueling the pro-life advocates on certain points that they do not believe in. Decrease in the amount of rapes that occur every year, every unwanted child that is born into this world adds to the population.
4. Government: a new government system that is completely uniform in every country, that gives equal rights to every citizen and politician alike. No one is above everyone else, people have the right to vote, not have someone vote in their honor.
5. War: Pull all troops out of war zones, end all wars, and each country worries about themselves and not what everyone else is doing. If there is a disagreement a war does not have to be started.
Of my top 5 problems I selected the simplest one to fix, something that we are already currently working on in America but is not quite there yet, because it seems like it is the only one where change will actually happen. It is nice to think about a world without war and fighting and unfair governmental systems but the reality is the government has be unfair for decades and war has been around for even longer, we as humans seem to be content with reliving history over and over again.