One aspect of travel time that I love is time to think. Taking a break from outside stimuli and letting my curious mind wander and wonder.
When I left off last time in this blog post, I was thinking an hour glass fit my model of Bloom’s and how it actually works in a student brain. After conversation here as well as with friends on Dr. Mary Howard’s facebook page, I decided to think about a broader conceptual piece. For those of you who know which lobes of the brain really control “what”, please ignore that and think about what happens to the bits of information that are processed inside our brains. (And do note – this is labelled as Draft 2.0)
Bloom’s and the Brain: How ideas may look as they are processed!
Sometimes the “uploading of ideas” may seem structured and other times the process seems to be more organic with much more give and take between levels.
Draft 2.0: What do you think?
How does your brain shift from one level to another?
Is there some automaticity like an automatic transmission in a car?
Or is there a bit of “gear-grinding” like a standard transmission with a tricky clutch?
What’s your thinking?
Resource - Full 
Thanks for 2.0, Fran! You ask an interesting question…How does my brain shift from one level to another? I see this as probably best represented by a model that illustrates a constantly shifting three-dimensional process. Like reading skills that don’t fall apart as neatly as perhaps math skills, these levels of thinking (in my vision) rotate and interpose with one another. For example, I need to remember stuff in order to analyze it, which helps me understand it more deeply…and so forth. When we are able to design classroom experiences that value and precipitate thinking within multiple levels, I think we are more likely to develop neuronal networks supportive of critical thinking. Thanks for keeping this conversation going!
Lanny,
It’s complicated because there is vertical movement as well as some horizontal movement as the meaning making ends up in a different location. Do you end up back at the bottom every time you add a new fact, idea or concept? Or if you added that as a result of a hypothesis, seeking to confirm or deny, do you continue to work in the mid-ranges. So much “schoolwork” tends to stay in the low levels. Easy to name. Easy to grade. Easy to talk about. Creating meaning is MESSY! ❤