“Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell
I’m embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t known much about Malcolm Gladwell or his previous books, “The Tipping Point” and “Blink” until I attended NECC09 and heard Mr. Gladwell present the opening keynote speech. I will most likely pick up these books now that I’ve finished “Outliers” (and I have some Barnes and Noble gift cards burning a hole in my pocket).
I’ve always been a fan of books that talk about being in the right place at the right time. I believe there is no such thing as a coincidence and that things happen for a reason. It is up to us to discern the reason and capitalize on the situation. For me, this is much easier said than done.
Mr. Gladwell does a great job chronicling excellent examples that support his “outliers” concept. I was especially impressed with his own personal story. As a classroom teacher, having read this book will give me an additional tool to use to motivate and encourage my students.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:15 am
I’ve read both Tipping Point and Blink and enjoyed them both. Very easy reads, but very thought provoking. I’ll see if our library has a copy of Outliers yet.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Say what? What is it about Outliers that provides you an additional teaching tool? Do you intend to tell the students that no matter how hard they work, they’ll amount to nothing unless a unique opportunity presents itself to them?
July 20th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Hi Mark,
I’m glad I had read Outlier before attending his keynote at NECC09. I thought his chapter about birthdays and success has a lot of bearing on the educational community. We are in such a rush to get our kids in school, but is that the right thing to do? I know because of my birthday, I was 5 and 1/2 before I could start Kindergarten. Glad I didn’t start at 4 and 1/2 because I was that much more mature when I started.
When he chronicled the Beatles “rise to fame” it was interesting to think about all of the performing they had done in Germany before their fame. I really enjoyed reading about the opportunity Bill Gates had as a teenager. Spending 10,000 hours at something sure does give you a level of expertise.
Like you, I plan to pick up his other books this summer.
Happy reading!