Think Like a Teacher

Technology takes us too seriously.

April Fools Day takes us beyond comic relief to some interesting observations on technology and life. It all  started when I went to write an upcoming weekly Update for TeachersFirst and was not sure how to spell whoopee cushion. So… I Googled it. First, Google’s suggested offerings gave me a good laugh:

What is a whoopy cat, anyway? Alas, despite the lure of whoopie pie recipes, I stuck with my initial whoopy hypothesis. Lo and behold, Google again corrected me:

Showing results for whoopee cushion. Search instead for whoopy cushion

But the richness of whoopy cushions could not be greater! Not only can I only find  the ubiquitous wikipedia explanation; I also find Google Ad results galore. Did you know:

That whoopee cushions (the correct spelling) are apparently oriental?

That you can apparently get any size online?

That they have been around for over 50 years?

That there is something called PottyPutty (ewwww…).

That there is a best value whoopee cushion?

That Amazon places them under sports?

Wow, the things you learn about whoopee cushions from Google.

I look further:

There are images of whoopee cushions, videos of whoopee cushions, and — the ultimate in technology — a whoopee cushion widget!

As my husband chimes in:

No matter how sophisticated we get with technology, someone will teach it to make fart noises.

So, as April Fools’ Day approaches,  fear not. Google can help you find humor in the serious and take even the most frivolous gag seriously. There must be a lesson in 21st century literacy buried in here somewhere, but I think I just heard a fart noise from the back of a classroom.

Ok, my title is a bit of a stretch and certainly a distortion of logic. But Scientific American published a 60 second science podcast today about how puberty makes kids stupid. A study of brains in pubescent mice shows that puberty triggers a sort of interference by something called a GABA receptor that gets into the brain at puberty (in mice), preventing neurons from forming connections as they did when the mouse was not experiencing hormone rage. A slightly more elaborate explanation of the mouse study in the Science Magazine podcast (March 19) explains further that stress may actually improve learning during these dumbed-down days by overriding the GABA interference. So I muse:

If puberty inhibits brain function enough to prevent learning, do zits possibly prevent learning?

If we can interfere with the pubescent brainstall simply by adding a little stress, should we be stressing our teenagers more?

If puberty causes zits, will learning — which implies conquering puberty — cure them?

But isn’t stress supposed to CAUSE zits?

Or does stress cause puberty?

You have 60 seconds to generate the logic diagram for these arguments, separate fact from fiction, and report it with APA documentation…or simply get a zit. How’s that for stress-induced learning?

It must be Friday.