As I was sleepily drowsing into sleep, I realised something.
It's an aha. Although it was kind of subdued. But I feel it is important.
All this time I'd been searching for the courage to back up my convictions, so that I can pursue whatever I wanted to do without fear. Somehow in that half drowsy state, I managed to step back a few steps--and I understood something. Perhaps it's not the courage to be able to do something--but rather courage itself is the state to achieve. Anything else is a means to an end. But I've always seen it the other way around. Courage is the ends, not the means.
The other insight was that learning is also a social phenomenon to me. I found that when students presented their ideas, they struck me more powerfully and clearly. Somehow hearing the ideas, vs just reading them in the head helps my comprehension a lot more. The social also creates the relevance for the idea to manifest. Otherwise anything else is too vague or abstract to matter.
Anything else??
The Visual Journals seem to be really working. The students seem to be really into it. And it's so much easier to control the crowd. The big lectures seem to be really alienating somehow. They are not engaged. And we're not connected. I think there's some better way to do it, but how???
Incorporate VJs earlier the next run. Start off with it.
Kenny mentioned that perhaps we shouldn't have students present. He makes a good point, but ultimately, I think that I want them to work through the awkwardness, to share in the struggle.
The students seem to have trouble with some parts of the readings-- I'll have to take care of those. Overall it was quite okay, what they did. I'd like to get them to reflect on the relevance of the readings more with the design work they are doing.
Next week's Viz Journal exercise: Do the parts of myself worksheet, and remember to ask them to incorporate their learner into the equation. Get the parts to interact with themselves...
So far a lot of the responses to Viz Probe 1 and 2 have been quite encouraging. I think that once they become more comfortable with this, they'll just fly.
Oh, remember:
Metaphorical mapping from favourite activity to not so hot activity. Relevance finding.
Time to set question 2!!
What else ...???
Goal Setting for learning intentiosn: Oh yeah, email them request both a goal for them, and a goal they'll like me to handle ...?
Remember to switch iz to last slot, but also to reorder a few of the reading groups... and also to have them cover some essential readings by themselves, and everyone do their report on them ...?
