Critical Thinking: Another Look

While scouring the internet reading page to page on different sites about critical thinking, one stood out among the rest.  The website was the home to The Center for Critical Thinking and Moral Critique, an educational non-profit organization that along with its sister program, the Foundation for Critical Thinking, strive to promote and reform education in the United States and around the world.  According to their mission statement the centers, “seek to promote essential change in education and society through the cultivation of fair-minded critical thinking.”  Most of the sites I visited were school district pages and in-class forums that discussed the importance and dynamic of critical thinking.  However, I thought these organizations were pretty cool in their pursuit of critical thinking as a tool that promoted true intelligence and perpetual learning instead of something that is an immediate benefit to the teacher or pupil.  Their goal to change education from the status quo to a “substance cultivation of true intellectual discipline,” is awesome. 

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766

Class Response: My Initial Thoughts on Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a phrase I've personally had drilled into my head from too many people to even list.  I think all of us have heard it used from a very young age to describe the procedure we use to figure out a problem.  However, the spectrum the problem falls on is infinite.  I can remember my fourth grade teacher, a woman I despised, repeatedly telling the class to "use critical thinking" to address and solve a problem for a variety of subjects.  Throughout the remainder of grade school it seemed like it was always something we were using to figure out a problem.  I don't think any teacher ever really delved into the meaning of "thinking critically." It was always something we were told to do, and to me that meant straying off the beaten path and thinking outside of the box.  I believe thinking critically means to drop any preconceptions and address the problem from the outside looking in as opposed to head on.  I do believe that I think critically.  As a matter of fact I think its one of my strongest intellectual attributes.  I've always been one to think outside of the box: I like to look at problems and solve them from varying perspectives. Something thats gotten me in trouble with way too many teachers and a handful of girls.  I always hated textbooks, and personally, I achieved my best learning when I wasn't pouring over pages of text or writing down a lecture verbatim.  That being said, thinking critically is different for everyone.  Thats what makes humans the most intelligent beings on the planet.  Our ability to play back scenarios, or experiences in our mind and find the best route to a problems solution is what set us apart from all the other species of primitive human.  While instinct and fight or flight drives the core of our decision making, man and woman's ability to quickly come up with a plan of action based off of previous occurrence or logic regarding the outcome of the task at hand is what I think drives the understanding of critical thinking.

Research 9.17.13

Hey people. So today I'm going to talk about the LDWF and what they are all about then follow it up with a current event for a little bit of perspective.

Starting in the late 1850's Louisiana began to realize that they were the owners of one of the most dynamic habitats in the entire western hemisphere.  As states began to ratify constitutions and regulate their residents it became very clear that Louisiana should do the same, especially regarding the abundant resources they had.  In the beginning, fishing regulations stood at the forefront of public policy because this resource was critical to feeding masses that resided in the state as well as the millions up and down the Mississippi River and along the Gulf Coast.  Following the installment of numerous fishing laws, Governor John Parker approached the Louisiana State Legislature in 1909 with a simple proposition:  create a governing body of like-minded conservationists, whose sole purpose would be to oversee fish and game trade/regulations in the state to make sure that conservation of Louisiana's resources remained at the forefront of public policy within the state.  A year later the Louisiana Board of Commissioners for the Protection of Birds, Game and Fish merged with the Louisiana Oyster Commission to form the Louisiana Department of Conservation.  This department stood at the head of wildlife and fisheries conservation until the people of Louisiana amended the state constitution to officially create the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the agency that enforces and regulates all policy to this day.

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/louisiana-wildlife-and-fisheries-co

So to give yall an idea of exactly what the LDWF does, I'll provide a link to a publication that came out this summer.  I'll briefly explain what the document "means."

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/hunting/migratory-and-waterfowl

--- Essentially what you see here is the official release from the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (an independent branch of conservationists within the LDWF) setting the dates for the legal harvesting of waterfowl within three different zones.  The reason the state is divided into zones is because the ecosystems within them are much different than the others. Therefore, to sustain and ensure stable flocks of migratory birds inside these zones, the state sets strict regulations for hunting inside of them.

Good Hunting,
Gersh

Post Number Two!

We're rolling now.  Anyway, for my second post I'll leave yall with a little bit of good, old fashioned, government provided reading.  When I started hunting in Louisiana I had to adhere to a whole new list of rules and regulations put into law by the state. Having some of the most diverse ecosystems and hunting grounds in the world, the state of Louisiana and the department that regulates fish and game (the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries) has to moderate bag limits and hunting laws in a very strict manner.  I read this entire thing when I arrived and began hunting. It seems like a lot, but for the law abiding citizen who cares about wildlife conservation, the information provided is extremely valuable.

The first link is a PDF file that explains in great detail the rules and regulations for migratory bird hunting in Louisiana.  The second link is to the LDWF web page where hunters can find all the information they need regarding specific license purchases, locations of hunting grounds and hunter education.

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/publication/36950-2013-14-migratory-game-bird-regulations/2013-14_migratory_game_bird_regulations.pdf

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/hunting

Coming up next: an interview with an avid Louisiana sportsman and tomorrow's class assignment.

Good Hunting,
Gersh

Mornings On The Marsh

Wildlife conservation is something I hold close to my heart.  I've been an avid outdoorsman for a very long time. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of chasing bugs and hiking through the woods on our property in Texas and Virginia.  I started hunting my freshman year of high school. The main focus of hunting in Virginia is big game (deer, elk, bear).  So, for the most part, the range of my hunting experience has been limited to the confines of a tree stand in the middle of the woods.  Not saying that sitting in a stand is bad, but it can get pretty boring.  There have been numerous times that I've woken my butt up at the crack of dawn, trekked through snow and mud, only to sit in a tree for an entire day and come up empty handed.  However, it's not all about harvesting an animal when you go out.  I find extreme pleasure in just being outside, losing cell service, and getting close to nature.  Driving home with some meat in the back of the truck at the end of the day is just an added bonus.  

When I came to LSU I wanted to immerse myself in the sportsman culture Louisiana offers.  However, due to strict federal and state laws, one cannot just pick up a firearm, waltz down the street and start blasting anything that moves.  There's a little more red tape than that.  I eventually landed a spot on a hunting trip to the east shore of Lake Charles last September on the opening weekend of duck season.  The experience was unlike any other.  When my co-worker told me that we would see our first ducks at 6:09 I thought he was joking.  I kid you not, at 6:08 I was sending my first shells down range.

Waterfowl hunting is an experience unlike any other. It took all my previous feelings and expertise in the hunting world and flipped them upside down.  After that day a year ago, I'm truly infatuated with the nonstop action and adrenaline pumping atmosphere it provides.  I'm looking forward to researching where the sport came from and where its headed. Hopefully, I can get some field research in as well. 

Teal Hunting in Lake Charles, LA-- Sept. 2012

Deer Hunting in Leesburg, VA-- Winter Break 2012