Between the Lines

Learner Unblocked

Kathy here: Yes, three weeks have flown by since I recognized my Learner's Block. Three weeks in which I dug into drawers, binders and boxes filled with ideas, theories and creative offerings. Why? I couldn't concentrate on my reading!  The revelation? It's all about the organizers. Per dictionary.com, a means which encourages one to: put together in an orderly, functional, structured whole, arrange in a coherent form, arrange in a desired pattern or structure.  And, my favorite, to develop into or assume an organic structure. It's practically poetry.

It turns out that I was not suffering from Learner's Block. I was suffering from Disorganized Thought Syndrome. As I pulled materials together, began to group like-with-like, to winnow out the irrelevant, the juices started to flow once more. Ideas actually came into my mind unbidden. I wasn't sure that was still possible. So, whether the word organization brings you a vision of aisle after aisle of office supplies just waiting for your touch or sends cold shivers down your spine, accept that organizers move us forward. They help make our paths obvious. They make our brains happy and rested. Unfortunately, they also make them bored which is how we get into these messes.

Last, I used the phrase Disorganized Thought Syndrome because I know this issue will arise for me again in other forms. Remember, a syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality. Would you care to share your disorganized thought problem?

Learning Organizers

Annie here: We are pleased to announce our fourth learning organizer, The Curious Life of Me:  A journal of my child’s questions…and answers, for parents of preschoolers through 4th grade or so.  The question journal contains prompts for parents/caregivers to capture children’s questions and nurture curiosity.  Learning organizers help individuals to reflect and build on their learning, and also demonstrate the benefits that library use provides over time.

The bad news is, due to the economy we’re not going to be able to publish it with a fancy binding like our first tool, the learning journal.  The good news is, we designed it in pdf so that it can be made available to the world! Download DDL QuestionJrnlPgsRev8 6-10-09

The four organizers, so far, are:

·         Growth Chart for preschoolers – designed, not yet printed
·         Reading Rocks – reading portfolio for summer reading participants to collect reading logs and certificates throughout their summer reading years
·         Question Journal – contains prompts for parents to capture children’s questions and nurture curiosity
·         Learning Journal – our original tool – all participants who attend the Learning Journeys program receive a free journal, but are encouraged to use the style of organizer that works best for them.  The Learning Journal contains suggested prompts and includes space for reading maps, etc.

It will be interesting to see if the IMLS 21st Century Skills tool, to be released in July, is in alignment with Learning Journeys discoveries – Delawareans got a head start on this one!  (Delaware loves being First ;-) 

Still lots more work to do and opportunities to explore on our “self-directed learning path about self-directed learning;” please share if you’re exploring a similar path. 

Learner's Block?

Kathy here: System shutdown; project offline;no data entered...I could go on...but what it comes down to is that my brain is full. Picture the file cabinet that practically spews paper when you open it, almost daring you to try and stuff one more sheet of paper inside. That's where I stand. Does this surprise you? Let me try to explain.

Some picture their lifelong learning as a hike, some as a climb. From my childhood, mine has always felt like a river. There are times when it is so wide I can barely see the other side; and others when even I - at 4'11" - can hop across it. There are times when it rages ahead, whitewater all round; and others when it babbles along peacefully. Then, there are those times when a tree falls across the flow; debris builds up behind; the water is gradually choked off from true forward movement.  Again, that's where I stand. My brain is full; my river is blocked.

The answer? I just need to pull out the heavy equipment I keep in reserve for tree removal. First, I acknowledge where I am and take a step back. I spend time in nature, pull out favorite quote collections, visit amazing photograph sites such as  Webshots or sit for a hour or so in the picture book section of my public library. Second, I recognize that 99.9% of the time when that tree has fallen, it relates to a disorganized approach to information overload. So, I'm spending the next few days with my figurative backhoe moving that learning I must do away from that I wish to do, removing rocks along the way and smoothing the surface of both.

Remember, that river wants to flow.

Frederick the Poet

Honoré here: Frederick by Leo Lionni is one of my all-time favorite children's picture books.  In one of my first Twitter posts , I tweeted: " A pleasant break : Frederick by Leo Lionni on YouTube http://bit.ly/weIw6 ."   You can see - the You Tube video, that is. Since I don't have copy of the book (note to self: correct that!) in my personal library, I was delighted to find the 6:25 minutes video: an animated rendering of the picture book, true to the book, with music. And the narrator/storyteller was excellent. Everything I liked about Frederick was right there/here ; thus, I could refresh my memory and enjoy, again for the "first time", this delightful story.

As I basked in my memories, I started thinking about how great it is that there is an Internet and practically anything/everything that is the sum total of human -kind's experience and knowledge was pretty much available and globally accessible. And then, I started thinking about sharing Frederick with a young child and I shuddered. I just couldn't imagine a young child, sitting on an adult's lap, hearing  and sharing the story via a computer screen. There's something about that personal, tactile interaction of holding the book, turning pages, discussing the pictures,  that's just lost in the digital format [and you know, I'm a big supporter of most things digital]. I first read Frederick as an adult and have shared it many times with young children. Somehow, I just can't bring myself to making that first intro to this absolutely wonderful story via YouTube...loses the poetry.

What are your thoughts? I'll be interested in reading your comments.
Cheers~

Tweet, Tweet...

Honoré here: In my April 27 post, I wrote about  Steve Leveen's blog post on the ubiquitous 3 x 5 index card. Kathy and I are allegedly using the 21st Century version of the 3 x 5 card: Twitter. 

Perhaps you've heard of Twitter and tweets - short, 140 character posts that chronicle such mundane things as what you're doing or thinking or, or, or ... at any given moment in time. Twitter's hot these days - all sorts of people, including Oprah, Ellen deGeneres, President Obama, tweet. Local radio and tv news stations, newspapers, use Twitter to instantly communicate and update their readers  on a certain topic or event.  A quick Google search identifies different ways Twitter [and similar other social networking sites such as Yammer, Facebook ] are used. This research study from PewResearch: "Twitterpated: Mobile Americans Increasingly Take to Tweeting" gives a recent [Dec 2008] overview. 

It does not surprise me that libraries of all ilk, from the Library of Congress to the smallest of rural libraries, use Twitter. The TwitterLeague  lists libraries on Twitter ranked by the Twitter follower counts. Click on any of the libraries - I found that right clicking to open up a new window worked best - to see how libraries currently in the league are using Twitter. The New York Public Library uses Twitter to draw attention to the many services, programs and resources that support any individual's personal learning quest  and especially to draw attention to how valuable and viable the public library is, especially in these t o u g h economic times.

To get back to the subject - why are Kathy and I tweeting? Ostensibly for an online scrapbooking class we're taking - the subject is on writing/journaling (apparently many scrapbookers experience writer's block - though that isn't our problem, we're both quite comfortable with writing and words. We're taking the class because we enjoy the facilitator, read her blog and learn a lot from her classes. ..in short, we're headed down another learning path...) I suspect that we'll add tweets to this blog ~ just as soon as we both get a little more comfortable with the medium. In the meantime, stay tuned. Tweet. Tweet.

Cheers~

My Personal Introduction to the Internet and World Wide Web

Honoré here:  In early April, Annie shared with us a report*:   2009 Horizon Report: The K12 Edition - the web version.   I quickly scanned the Table of Contents - liked so much that it was right there, up top in prime real estate or as it's called in web parlance - above the fold section of the computer screen. Chapter 11: Four to Five Years: The Personal Web immediately caught my attention. Not only was I interested in today's web 2.0  tools: blogs, tweets, personal videos and photos that one sees on YouTube or Flickr, nings  - social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace, I was taken back to the beginning of my web/Internet learning journey, circa 1997.

Then, we were still in the land of DOS; monitor screens were black with yellow or orange text. Boring! Email was all the rage and Netscape - the premiere Internet browser  - was in its infancy, destined to revolutionize the way people used computers, accessed and viewed information. Truly, the world became small.  Even though I was a public library branch manager and worked a lot on the information desk, we didn't have computers outfitted with the Internet and actually, very few people in the system had any experience or training...but, we were warned that wasn't always going to be the case.

I recall my curiosity was piqued with it all and, I must admit, perhaps I was a  little (lot?) intimidated. So, what does one do? Well, in my situation, I turned to my trusty resource: books. I scoured the library's then meager collection and bookstores. I looked for titles that would  help me unravel the mystery of how this thing called the Internet and www - the world wide web - would play out, not only in my work/professional life but also, and most importantly, my personal life. And I discovered Paul Gilster: a writer who specializes in computers and technology. I'm not sure if  the first title I read  was Finding It On the Internet  or the Web Navigator  - unfortunately, I didn't keep a journal or reading log way back then - or if I did, I've long since lost my notes. I do recall two things though: 1 - I read all the titles he'd written at the time, 3 or 4; and 2 -  he shared with us not only the technical stuff and jargon but more importantly, how he used the Internet/web tools to create his own personal web resources and experiences. In short, he shared the process with us, his readers, in a very conversational and informational style.  The outcome:  I could envision myself using the Internet and surfing the web; I no longer was intimidated but empowered to embrace this new phenomenon and began to explore and experiment more.

Today, I'm perfectly comfortable with embracing - trying out - these new web tools, not every one because they don't all appeal to me - but I do look into them so that I'll have a better understanding and I can grow my own knowledge. I am really awed and inspired by the Internet and the web 2.0 tools - they do bring the world closer and make it so much smaller  while at the same time, infinitely expand our horizons and current and potential learning journeys. What a glorious world. BTW: I also keep better track of what I read and my learning paths.

Cheers~

*PS. Even though the report is targeted to teachers, I think it's a great read for us all...

Let's be weird together

Kathy here: Phase III of the DLLJ is underway!  And, it centers on monthly meetings after the formal program presentation.

Readers bring one or two titles to each meeting to share with the group. This exercise offers up new reading choices, of course. But, it also gives us a chance to examine the road we were traveling for the previous 4 weeks...yet another way to be intentional...perhaps to find meaning...in our reading. 

Or not.

I say this neither Annie or I brought books to this first meeting that made us stand up and shout "HURRAY!  Read this!" And, that is perfectly okay, right? Yes! We continued to have a spirited conversation with our attendees about topics ranging from poetry to historical fiction to scientific processes. The best part was the ease with which each freely described how these topics were woven around and through their life-long reading/learning.

There was a new visitor with us. Following a short-and-sweet version of the  program before the meeting, she shared her preferred method of tracking her learning. She keeps her books piled by topic, full of Post-it notes. The piles - situated in physical relations to one another - enable her to visually cross topics over when the mood strikes.

At the conclusion of our time this month, she commented, "I thought I was weird until I heard what you all have said. This is so great." I couldn't have said it better myself.

Blogs and TV Monitors

Honoré here:  Many of you who have attended our DLLJ programs may recall that I generally start my day reading and journaling. This has been a habit of mine for several dozen years and this  MSQT - morning solitude and quiet time - is, hands down, my favorite part of any day, every day. Very seldom do I venture from that routine.

Several  weeks ago I connected my MAC mini computer to my wide flat-screened HD TV and now I have this gigantic monitor: a perfect venue for reading blogs. And reading blogs I have. Since I connected the TV monitor screen to the MAC, April 11, I've been in blog-heaven. I naturally began exploring some of my interest areas: quilting; scrapbooking; journaling  - reacquainting myself with some old favorites and making some new "friends" and discoveries. Several discoveries I want to share with you are:

1 - Tallgrass Prarie Studio ~ a place to explore modern quilting and share snippets of life on the prairie.This is a great site not only for quilting ideas, inspiration but also some everyday wisdom, and encouragement. I especially like the blogger's sharing her process and thinking as she experiments and makes quilts.

2 - I have become a huge fan of Deborah's Journal.  Deborah is a fiber artist and creates delightful art quilts and journal quilts. I discovered by reading her April 20 post that I have the book she features ~ so, I immediately pulled it off the shelf and re-read it, cover-to-cover.  I found several little quilts I think I'll try, including the one featured on the blog  (I like landscape quilts - they're fun).

3 - I am in the process of trying to get a handle on the proverbial "paper piles." (Quiet as it's kept I've been in this mode for more years than I care to disclose). One thing I noted as I plowed through piles:  I tend to make notes, especially when  I'm at the computer, on  assorted pieces of paper. Umm, I thought-perhaps I'd serve myself better if I stuck to one style/type of data collector that was readily available, portable, flexible, efficient, mobile, ubiquitous. I am an avid user of Levenger's Circa notebook system  so this morning I revisited  the site to see what's new, to get some ideas...Right there on the right side of the screen is a little box captioned "Learn More - How To" and  I decided I'd explore...Bingo! Enter: Steve Leveen, Founder and CEO of Levenger ~ serious tools for serious readers ~ and his blog: Well-Read Life (TM).   His April 20 post: "Dancing with Darwin: The vanishing index card is a useful species still"    is a gold-mine, chock-full of history,  tidbits  and nuggets of ideas for capturing our reading/learning journeys on the ubiquitous 3 x 5 index card. Read this post and the comments, too; they will warm your heart regardless if you are a librarian or old-school user of the long-gone but never-forgotten card catalog.

As I continue to enrich my MSQT via my blog travels I shall share my  journey and the stops along the way, so stay tuned.

Cheers~

Recurring themes, recurring dreams...back to that verdant green

Kathy here...Pikeville, Kentucky is my ancestral home. For my husband, Jim, Pocahontas, Virginia is "the homeplace." As natives of Maryland, imagine our surprise to discover that these family centers lie just "over the mountain" from one another, a mere 120 miles apart. Both rest in the lush green world of the Appalachian Mountain chain. The chain is one of the oldest on earth with an estimated age of over a billion years. And, while the Appalachians technically run from Quebec to Alabama, it is that pocket of civilization defined by southeastern West Virginia, western Virginia, eastern Kentucky, northeastern Tennessee and northwestern North Carolina that defines these mountains for me and my husband.

There,  Appalachia is a lifestyle, a culture, a heritage.

Why this topic at this time? Who knows what triggers spark our interests? It does seem that each Spring I begin a renewed sprint-learning cycle with the subject. Perhaps because when I was a youngster, we regularly "went south" over Easter break. Regardless, every single time I walk this path, my learning expands. This year, my path has even been across media. Talk about totally immersing oneself...wow! Here is a snapshot of this particular trip among the "mountain people."

Book: Appalachians: America's First & Last Frontier by Mari-Lynn Evans
         Age Before Beauty by Virginia Smith

CD: Songs from the Mountain with John Herrmann, Dirk Powell & Tim O'Brien

DVD: History Channel: Hillbilly - The Real Story  and  Songcatcher

What subjects draw you in again and again? How has this particular learning path evolved for you? Have you crossed medias in your search?

By the way, the "quoted" phrases above are for your instructional benefit. They are the words of "my people." And, last, my newest factoid: Pocahontas, Virginia was the first ever coal boom town!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water...

Kathy here...did you hear that duh-dum...duh-dum musical entry from Jaws when you read the post title? Well, there is context for it. I was all set to talk to you today about my reading/learning turn onto a verdant path meandering between weathered split rail fences when I was blindsided.

A co-worker stuck his library copy of Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin into my mail box this morning. The juvenile book chronicles the thoughts, questions and bedevilments of 12-year-old Jason, a boy with autism. In it , he shares his life where "stuff happens...that's it," among the "neurotypicals." Jason doesn't talk in "their" language. He flaps his hands, rocks back and forth and crawls under desks in an effort to stay on the ground, to keep the pieces that are him from flying off in a hundred directions. I read the entire book at lunch. While this is fiction, I have read similar accounts in biographies of others with autism. Fascinating.

I have been researching and reading about autism for 18 years...since February 10th, 1991 when my youngest boy was diagnosed. Jason describes my Jon perfectly. How often I have imagined the very words that Ms. Baskin recorded as swirling around in his head. The Jaws reference? It refers to how, after all these years, I still get caught short when I run across words/works such as these; the pain still shoots straight to my heart and brings tears to my eyes. Clearly, this particular learning journey will never end for me or mine.

What search has been thrust upon you? Laura spoke of her exploration of Alzheimer's a few weeks back. How did you begin to reach out to learn/find the tools that helped you cope and move forward?

Next week, back to that verdant path...I've been kickin' up some dust through total immersion in Appalachian stories, history, music and video...stay tuned!