One of my goals for this year was to try to be more social. Meet new people, make new friends, and try to get out a little more.One giant step in the process was joining a small group at church. Ivan has been wanting to join one, but I've held back. One, I wanted to wait until the new campus we're going to started it's own groups and, two, I just wasn't ready to meet new people. I finally stopped being a baby about it and we went to a group meet-up. We found a group of people and have met 3 times now. I haven't had the chance to hang out with any of them outside of that, but I think we have a pretty awesome group. I already feel comfortable with everyone and we all seem to get along great. I can't wait to see where this will go and how we grow together, both personally and in our relationship with God.
I'm also starting to do more things with people at work. A group actually started a committee for it. They've already put together a Valentine's Day lunch (which I missed because Ivan took me to one of my favorite places - Mellow Mushroom) and a Mardi Gras cook-off. There will also be hiking, shopping, going to the movies, and many other things that I'm not even aware of yet. I think this is going to be a lot of fun and can't wait to see what the group has planned next. :-)
Here's to the meeting new people and a fun-filled future!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Being Published
No, I'm not published, BUT I was asked to write an article for a professional journal! I was so excited when I got the email last week. An editor saw a presentation I did last October on digitizing items and loved it! She said it would be perfect for her technology trends column and said that it would probably be published next January, but she would show it to other editors who might publish it earlier. Isn't that awesome?!?! I can't believe this goal is becoming a reality so soon. (^_^)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Learning - Be creative, ask why
Not that I have any kind of formal education on the subject, but how people learn is a fascinating topic. In my opinion school systems, colleges, and many other educational avenues teach kids to memorize, not learn. The school system teaches kids to show up, memorize, do as they're told, and avoid creative thinking. Ivan and I talk about this a lot and still aren't sure what we'll do when Alexander starts school. Plenty of time to worry about that, so it seems.
Schools focus on scores too much, not the actual outcome. I know plenty of teachers who could help students learn the subject, but have restrictions on what they can and can't do and how they do it. I would rather have students who can intellectually talk about a subject than ones who cram to get good grades then forget the information not even a week later. Which do you prefer? Would you want your child to know and understand information or get good grades. Technically, you want both, but what if you could only choose one? I wonder how the school system will evolve over the next decade? I hope it gets better for everyone involved.
So how do we learn? We can learn a lot from children. Have you ever paid attention to a baby or toddler when they are learning something new? You can almost see the wheels turning in their head. They try something and if it doesn't work they try it again. They take risks and don't care if they do it wrong or look silly doing it. They are curious and ask why. When do they stop this? When adults make them stop. Parents, teachers, everyone. We teach them to be ashamed of making mistakes. We should be teaching them to learn from them. Be creative, take risks, and if you fail you need to learn from it. Everything in us wants to, but everything within our entire system says to just follow the path and don't think for yourself, don't be creative. Memorize and get good grades and you'll go far. I really don't think that's true.
For those of you who got good grades, how far did it get you? I had great grades throughout school and college, but it doesn't really have anything to do with where I'm at today. I came up with ideas, sometimes worked by myself, sometimes with others, used creative thinking, took risks, and asked why. Because of this I have presented multiple times, been asked to write columns, joined committees, helped others create classes, and taught and mentored other librarians. I have taken risks that haven't paid off and I've made mistakes, but I have learned from them and learned how to use them to benefit me. I have only been in my profession a little over 3 years and have achieved more than I ever thought I could. Now, to be honest, part of this is also because of the confidence Ivan has given me. He has always believed in me and supported me in my educational and professional decisions. What risks have you taken? What creative ideas have you put in place? Have you ever made a mistake, but learned from it to come out on top?
Maybe one day I'll have a better grasp of this topic. Maybe I'll get my PhD, write a thesis on this topic, then change the education system. It all depends on how I learn.
Schools focus on scores too much, not the actual outcome. I know plenty of teachers who could help students learn the subject, but have restrictions on what they can and can't do and how they do it. I would rather have students who can intellectually talk about a subject than ones who cram to get good grades then forget the information not even a week later. Which do you prefer? Would you want your child to know and understand information or get good grades. Technically, you want both, but what if you could only choose one? I wonder how the school system will evolve over the next decade? I hope it gets better for everyone involved.
So how do we learn? We can learn a lot from children. Have you ever paid attention to a baby or toddler when they are learning something new? You can almost see the wheels turning in their head. They try something and if it doesn't work they try it again. They take risks and don't care if they do it wrong or look silly doing it. They are curious and ask why. When do they stop this? When adults make them stop. Parents, teachers, everyone. We teach them to be ashamed of making mistakes. We should be teaching them to learn from them. Be creative, take risks, and if you fail you need to learn from it. Everything in us wants to, but everything within our entire system says to just follow the path and don't think for yourself, don't be creative. Memorize and get good grades and you'll go far. I really don't think that's true.
For those of you who got good grades, how far did it get you? I had great grades throughout school and college, but it doesn't really have anything to do with where I'm at today. I came up with ideas, sometimes worked by myself, sometimes with others, used creative thinking, took risks, and asked why. Because of this I have presented multiple times, been asked to write columns, joined committees, helped others create classes, and taught and mentored other librarians. I have taken risks that haven't paid off and I've made mistakes, but I have learned from them and learned how to use them to benefit me. I have only been in my profession a little over 3 years and have achieved more than I ever thought I could. Now, to be honest, part of this is also because of the confidence Ivan has given me. He has always believed in me and supported me in my educational and professional decisions. What risks have you taken? What creative ideas have you put in place? Have you ever made a mistake, but learned from it to come out on top?
Maybe one day I'll have a better grasp of this topic. Maybe I'll get my PhD, write a thesis on this topic, then change the education system. It all depends on how I learn.
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