I can make you do things

Today was the first day of full length classes...all 80 minutes of them. We have a block schedule so we have 4 one day and 4 the next. I have the fun of teaching one Psychology class on the odd days and the second on the even days. It'll work out well.

So we started out with the kids writing down what comes to mind when they think about the word, 'psychology'. It's actually a cool exercise. Most people come up with Freud or 'mind' or 'abnormal' or something like that. And they did. And it's a great segway to talk about what happens in the 'world of psychology'. It captures them right from the beginning. All of a sudden, this class has some relevance. And it does...

• Advertising - they want to know how you think and what you might buy or not and why
• Military - how does the oppo think?
• Police - who might be a terrorist? what is their profile?
• School - how can we get kids to be more motivated?

Etc, etc, etc.

And then they have to think about where the info comes from. Who does the studies? How do they work? Is the information out there accurate? Is it truly scientific? Can someone really control what I do and think? Yup - mind boggling!

And that's what makes it a great class...every day there is something that will hit you - we studied that, we talked about that...psychology is everywhere. And they don't know it...but I'll make them all do something without knowing they are doing it. But I'm not telling you what that is...at least not now.