Introduction
I haven't shared this with many people, but in early January, I was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with some significant health issues. Since then, I have been hospitalized 3 times for various reasons and I have learned a lot about myself and how my body works and one thing that I need and I feel we all need is planned and scheduled breaks. I had to chuckle when I read in the article by Pink about how we should carve out 20% of our time for non-commissioned work. "Who among us hasn't wasted that amount of time at work anyway." (Pink, p. 163) Me!! It is challenging to do when you are scheduled from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with a 20-minute break for lunch and if lucky, a short break somewhere else during the day during which time, you are copying, posting lessons, grading, returning parent phone calls, etc. As a teacher, I struggled with doing anything other than what I was told to do by my administration. That is one of the reasons I take classes is to get different ideas from others how to make my classroom a more engaging place to learn.
Getting sick has forced me to take some downtime to create non-commissioned and think to myself how I could possibly use these ideas in my classroom in the future.
What is something you've learned on your own recently? After doing the readings, what elements of your own learning experience would you connect to the readings? Provide at least 2 points of connection to the readings.
Recently, I have been learning how to paint using a medium that is new to me called Alcohol Inks. Alcohol Inks are exactly what they sound like Isopropyl Alcohol infused with ink. What makes the inks unique from other mediums is that unlike Acrylics and Oils, the colors repel each other naturally instead of blending. You also have to create your art on non-porous surfaces like glass, ceramic or metal in order to use the "flow" of the ink. Here are a few examples:
In the article by Knowles, I really connected to the passage where Allen Tough posed the question, "How do adults learn naturally when they are not being taught?" In this same passage, they discuss that the average adult engages in about 8 major learning projects a year with only about 10% being supported by an educational institution. The learning process for adults is a universally natural process that generally goes through a similar sequence of steps. (Knowles p. 42). I connected to this because when trying to create the purple and teal painting above, I simply felt that I needed to experiment more to get it to look the way I wanted it to. This was my third attempt at this style of painting which was new to me at the time. I had in my mind's eye what I wanted it to look like, but it took me 3 attempts to create it after I had watched several Youtube videos of artists and experimented with the amount of ink in the mixture of each color as well as the type of air flow needed to make it look "whispy".
I also connected to the section in the article by Knowles that discusses the role experience plays in learning. Children identify to experience as something that happens to them, but adults derive their self-identity by their experience. (Knowles, p. 51) I had never really thought about that mindset before. My personal belief is an adult's self-identity because of experience may either give them to take more risks in their learning because they have experienced that it's okay to fail and try again whereas children not having the experience of failure, they are often hesitant to fail when learning something new.
How do you interact with other professionals? How do you find inspiration to continue your own growth?
I believe that all teachers need to find an outlet like I have found with art to be able to express themselves and process some of the stress we all face especially since it is difficult to find to work on "non-commissioned" work during the school day. Even something like running, playing an instrument or writing on your own time may be enough to satisfy the adult's needs to learn naturally.
I try to remember when interacting with other professionals that they are adults no matter if they are new teachers or if they are 30-year veterans. The other professionals probably will have experiences that I have never considered. The important thing is that we all work together using all of our experiences to grow.
I find my inspiration to continue to grow by seeing what others are doing in their classrooms and in their personal lives. Getting ideas from others is inspirational to me.
What is a specific idea you hope to take forward from your readings into your work with adults?
I think that the most significant idea that I am taking forward into my work with adults is that their past experiences will affect their learning process. I also loved the video and the writings of Pink about motivation. I will take those ideas with me and I will also take some of the ideas on motivation to my students.
Where I'm going with this.
I am hopeful that through this project, I will be able to explore motivation and the natural desire adults have to learn new things. I have found that since I have been ill and forced to take a break and follow your motivation and your desire to learn something new. I believe that when adults gain that excitement and joy from learning it spreads into the classroom. My goal is to develop and explore how teachers can find time during the school day or on their own time to work on "non-commissioned" work.
Hayden Ciomei:
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your illness. I too chuckled at the 20% rule because at my old job I was doing non-commissioned work, but as a teacher I can't find the time to relax at all. I personally have never taught adults and found the readings interesting, especially the quote you provided. We expect adults to be able to pick up things quickly, when studies show that the older you get, the harder to grasp the concept. I agree with the motivation take away. The information about how to motivate is extremely beneficial to my teaching.
Judi,
ReplyDeleteI hope your health issues will not last and you can return to where you were prior to your diagnosis. Perhaps this new adventure into painting will create balance for you. Having a balance in life is critical to good health.
I read your post and I thought, this is what inquiry learning is all about. You took something new on and have to learn several aspects of Alcohol Inks to come up with a picture you are satisfied with. You play with different amounts of product to create the desired color you want in your picture. No one is really guiding you, you use You-tube, but you are mastering the process by trial and error. Very proud of you.
As educators, we teach students to learn. We must be good role models and never stop investigating, collaborating and communicating with others to grow intellectually. I always am excited about attending workshops and seminars, even if I am fairly competent in the subject. There will always be a different perspective presented which I may take away and learn something new from someone else.
Wow. That was a beautiful entry. I was saddened to hear about your health issues and I hope things get better. I really loved your Alcohol Ink pieces, especially the 3rd one (the abstract one with the blues and the greens merging and separating. Very nice. I can relate to the lack of time issue as well. I am so used to eating quickly that when I am with others who are not teachers I find that I am usually the first one to finish. Take care and good luck!
ReplyDeleteThe above comment was from Arthur. For some reason it didn't show my name.
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