I’ve always profited from taking risks with my education. Not to say that my most insightful papers were written in a batting cage, or that I had a moment of enlightenment whilst reading poetry on a 10 story ledge, but my experience has been that when you ignore that little doubtful voice in the back of your mind and jump … Read More
Opportunities
To me, learning is an active experience. Something you do that teaches you a brand new life lesson. It’s extremely hard to learn without actually having a reason why or how. That reason came to me many years ago, and I got 50 bucks out of the blue! Who wouldn’t want that? There I am, sitting in class one day … Read More
Learning Through Chewing
I was running late, once again, to a group therapy session in a tall glass office building near Georgetown in the District of Columbia, and, once again, I hadn’t eaten beforehand. I hopped off my bike, locked it up and hurried through the tall glass doors and up the elevator. I punched in the door code and walked through the … Read More
The Gig
`“Hey guys! Are you going to our awesome gig tonight? We are gonna rock your socks off!” exclaimed my good friend Cameron. Apparently he and Erek were in a “hard core” band that we just HAD to see. So, of course, whether it was out of curiosity or just to humor ourselves, my friends and I decided to go. Though … Read More
Learning to Speak
Learning is an everyday skill in which a person receives knowledge about a new object, word or maybe an activity. Most people learn through experience of what their stories tell. Some people learn from other people experiences or stories. I too, like to learn things through things I’ve experienced. I like to observe people’s actions, to get an idea on … Read More
Karate and the Big Chicken
At the age of eight, my son Josh took a karate class at the neighborhood community center with kids and adults of all levels. I would watch the tail end of the class when I picked him up, thinking, “I could do that.” One day, the instructor sat down beside me and asked me when I was going to join … Read More
Swimming by YouTube
It started innocently enough. An email from a friend suggesting that we do a super-short-distance all-women triathlon near where I live. Well, that’s easy! No, I didn’t know how to swim (not-drowning was about as far as I could go), I didn’t own a bike (other than the broken-down oversize man’s bike under the house that I’d rescued from a … Read More
"I am not going to teach you any differently!"
Perhaps the most significant, life-determining learning experience happened in the eleventh grade in Mrs. Eli’s class in my West Texas hometown high school named San Angelo Central High School. I remember the first day of the school year in her class. At first–in the brief moments before class was to start–it seemed like any other eleventh-grade class. That is, pretty … Read More
The students had a real audience, a real purpose and a real voice.
Journalism was the most authentic writing experience my students every enjoyed and the best teaching I have ever done. My journalism students at Title One, urban schools in Southern California were almost all the children of immigrants or immigrants themselves. We always had at least three different primary languages on staff; one year we had seven, yet they regularly won … Read More
It's about intellectual AND vocational skills
I have always been a person who views learning as essentially a practical thing. You take action, you practice in activities and immerse yourself in projects, taking risks and as such making a great many mistakes that you end up learning and growing from. Where does all this learning take a person? Well for one, hopefully we become better people … Read More
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