Learning in the Wild

 

That’s how it feels. Wild. Week six feels like it was both yesterday and was also three months ago. Time is such a strange thing. While blogging has been more enjoyable and manageable than I was anticipating, the vulnerability needed was still a challenge. Having it modeled by all of you certainly made it possible for me. 


 

Needing to rely on the timeliness of others for the ability to complete my assignments is not something I dig at all. It seems a term of no one having schedules similar enough that I was able to complete assignments when it best suited; rather, I would have to continually revisit shared folders, discussion boards, and blogs each day in the hopes that someone posted so I would be able to complete each task. My weekends rarely afford me time to complete schoolwork and being forced to create time which didn’t exist was not fun. 


 

I did, however, really love reading what others chose to share; it was frequently validating when I didn’t even know that was something I needed. Your reflections caused a deeper reflection in me. I also appreciated others’ interpretations of the readings and discussion questions. You gifted me a different way of looking at things; one of the many benefits of fruitful and functioning PLNs. 

 


Realized early in the term that my current building may be unique as well. I do not believe there is one educator or professional in our building who would not willingly share their expertise and offer their help. Each time I inconvenienced someone with a request, they would offer even more than was asked. However, through blogging and assignments, I now also see the benefit of expanding my PLN to include social media, the newsletters, etc. of various organizations- CommonSense, Learning for Justice, etc.-, and sharing with peers in programs like ours. 

 


Grateful for this wonky and consuming semester of learning in the wild; it has me contemplating a variety of things and focused on creating more balance in my life. 

 


Thank you for sharing and for helping me to do the same. Stay well, Everyone, and may next term and 2023 bring better balance and less stress to all. Enjoy your week 11/12 chuckles; I am here chuckling with you. 

 

Kate

Comments

Maddie Grierson said…
Hi Kate, Learning in the wild is a much more accurate name, I agree.. it was..wild! I agree that having the ability to know that everyone was blogging and seeing it done and modeled for us made it a lot easier to get behind. I also appreciated everyone's vulnerability and ability, to be honest. It helped me to also share in that and feel comfortable being vulnerable and sharing the things that I felt bad about. Blogging really helped me feel that we are not alone in this and that we are all riding the same roller coaster and it is normal to have high highs and low lows. I am so glad that you have such an excellent PLN, that certainly makes this journey a lot easier. I am missing my PLN from my last school and I truly hope that the people at my new school become a PLN like you have, it sounds amazing! I wish you the absolute best going forward, I loved reading your thoughts each week and having the opportunity to meet you over zoom for our group project. You truly inspired me this term. I hope you are in my next classes!! ~Maddie
December 4, 2022 at 2:53 PM
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