The Abstract Random Apple Has Fallen From the Tree

Back in college, because I thought I'd be a kindergarten teacher when I grew up, I took an education class that (I believe) was called "Theories of Teaching and Learning". One day we took part in an exercise that, thanks to the Google, I now remember was called the "Gregorc model". On this web site, I found the following description of the Gregorc model:

The Gregorc model is a cognitive model designed to reveal two types of abilities, perception and ordering. Perceptual abilities, the means through which information is grasped, translate into two qualities: abstractness and concreteness. Ordering abilities are the ways the learner organizes information, either sequentially (linearly) or randomly (non-linearly). Gregorc couples these qualities to form four learning categories: concrete/sequential (CS), abstract/sequential (AS), abstract/random (AR), and concrete/random (CR). Although everyone has all four qualities, most people are predisposed toward one or two of them.

Although we found it humorous, my friends were not particularly surprised when I came out of that test with the label "Abstract Random" - let's face it: it fit. Matt and I have laughed about it for years when I say or do something that's maybe, let's say, not so linear.

We've known for quite some time that Lyle was following in my footsteps. The more we see his art and the language he uses, the more obvious this becomes. Last summer Matt's mother described Lyle's art as being Salvador Dali-like when he created a sticker picture with all the people flying and trucks on the rooftops. As a big fan of Marc Chagall, I love it.

Tonight I wrote down a joke he made up at the dinner table and Matt voiced the words that were in my head: "Now that's Abstract Random!"

Q: "Why did the cheeseburger cross the road without Frank the Bull* chasing him?"

A: "To get to the beer napkin!"

* CARS movie reference