Here's another place to kick in the learning bug - Wikiversity. With over 10,000 free learning resources, you'll find tons of great instructional materials here.
How about an introduction to Swedish? Or web design? What about learning the basics of film making? Or Observational Astronomy? I think there's scope here for us to go really wild with some new things to learn. This site is definitely going to be on my bookmarks list.
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Know Your Resources
Although I've touched on this exercise in another post (see here), I want to look at it a little more closely today because I believe it's important to get in the habit of knowing what tools you have to reach for when you need to apply your creativity to an event or problem.
As so many things that get reviewed at a time like the end of one year and the beginning of the new, take some time now to thumb through your rolodex of skills, references, and connections. By reviewing what you have to hand, you can also identify those that you would like to work on developing in the coming year.
When I face a challenge, the first thing I do is to review what skills, references and connections I can use to find a resolution. When I start a new job, the first thing I do is catalog the resources I have at my fingertips to be successful at the job. For instance, in my current position, I work for a company that's been around for more than 75 years and has many, many employees that have been with the company for 25 years or more (some up to 45 years). There are many strengths to that sort of employee make up but there are challenges, too. So many of the routine things that happen are not written down. Everyone just knows how to do and who to call but if you're new, that way of working can be very daunting and so much of your time is spent just trying to find out who to ask what questions of. You also spend a lot of time in trouble because you've done things wrong and there's no way of knowing it's wrong until you do it wrong.
My best tool in this case was a piece of software - Microsoft One Note. I was able to make tabs covering a wide variety of topics, including one called "Contacts." Every time a new piece of the puzzle is revealed, I make a note and almost every single day, even after more than a year in the job, I refer to a tab in that file and I'm able to share what I've learned with other newbies like me so they don't have to go through the trouble I've had.
Those organizational tools like this will be different for different types of jobs and it's important to learn what you can use in each particular situation.
From the skills side of things, here are some skills that I value:
As so many things that get reviewed at a time like the end of one year and the beginning of the new, take some time now to thumb through your rolodex of skills, references, and connections. By reviewing what you have to hand, you can also identify those that you would like to work on developing in the coming year.
When I face a challenge, the first thing I do is to review what skills, references and connections I can use to find a resolution. When I start a new job, the first thing I do is catalog the resources I have at my fingertips to be successful at the job. For instance, in my current position, I work for a company that's been around for more than 75 years and has many, many employees that have been with the company for 25 years or more (some up to 45 years). There are many strengths to that sort of employee make up but there are challenges, too. So many of the routine things that happen are not written down. Everyone just knows how to do and who to call but if you're new, that way of working can be very daunting and so much of your time is spent just trying to find out who to ask what questions of. You also spend a lot of time in trouble because you've done things wrong and there's no way of knowing it's wrong until you do it wrong.
My best tool in this case was a piece of software - Microsoft One Note. I was able to make tabs covering a wide variety of topics, including one called "Contacts." Every time a new piece of the puzzle is revealed, I make a note and almost every single day, even after more than a year in the job, I refer to a tab in that file and I'm able to share what I've learned with other newbies like me so they don't have to go through the trouble I've had.
Those organizational tools like this will be different for different types of jobs and it's important to learn what you can use in each particular situation.
From the skills side of things, here are some skills that I value:
- Lateral thinking (approaching a problem from a different direction)
- Problem solving
- Ability to learn about a subject quickly
- Ability to think through a problem logically
- Emotional intelligence
These are some of the skills I work on continually so that when I need them, they're ready to go.
In addition to these mental skills, I work on the practical skills that all me to be creative in my textile arts. These are very practical, hand's on skills that I need to be able to call on when I'm designing. To be able to see the finished piece in my mind doesn't do any good if I can't put it down on paper and then execute it. So I practice and keep in touch with techniques that will give me greater scope to do my thing.
What are some of the skills that you need to do what you love to do? Make a list of those skills and rate yourself on your ability to use each one. Which ones will you build on this year? Which ones will you pass on to others that share your passions? Teaching is one of the best ways of cementing skills you're building.
I hope that the new year will be one of joy and creativity and new things.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Da Vinci's Principles - #1 Curiosita
The first of the Principles of da Vinci is that of Curiosita, described as an insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
(In a typical passage from the notebooks Da Vinci...) adds, "I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains along with imprints of coral and plants and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it, and why immediately on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone, and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engage my thought throughout my life."
My parents were two of the most curious people I've ever known. One of the strongest memories I have of my Dad was him on a Sunday afternoon, laying on the couch with a volume of the encyclopedia. It didn't matter which volume of our (even then) ancient set he had. He would read it from start to end like a novel. There was always something in it that interested him. Unlike me, he was a great extrovert and he used his magpie storage of information to talk intelligently to anyone on almost any subject. If he didn't know about their subject before he talked to them, by the end of the conversation, he had a good working knowledge of whatever they were interested in.
I hardly remember a time when I was growing up that my mother was not taking some sort of class or another. She had a hunger for education and continually stretched herself. When I was in Jr. High, she decided to go back to college to get her degree. She was continually studying, learning all sorts of new things and I became her guinea pig for her exercises in classes ranging from audiology to psychology. For me, it was fascinating because I was learning along with her. It was great!
By the time I was in High School and had moved back to our hometown in Central Texas, Sunday afternoon for the two of us was made up of her studying while I baked bread. She would take a break for a slice of fresh bread while we watched Julia Child and then we would lay around reading through the huge dictionary she used for her studies. We would find some obscure or funny sounding word and challenge each other to use the word in conversation during the week. It's amazing when you learn a new word at how many times it will show up.
I don't think I really ever had a chance to be anything other than curious but it was also something that I learned. You can learn it to. Allow yourself time to begin asking questions like those in Leonardo's notebook. Start a notebook and spend time each day to just think and ponder. I understand how hard that can be in our busy lives but I'm going to begin carving time out myself and I challenge you to do the same. Can we do it for a week, to begin with? Let's do it together.
(from "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci" by Michael J. Gelb)
(In a typical passage from the notebooks Da Vinci...) adds, "I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains along with imprints of coral and plants and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it, and why immediately on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone, and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engage my thought throughout my life."
My parents were two of the most curious people I've ever known. One of the strongest memories I have of my Dad was him on a Sunday afternoon, laying on the couch with a volume of the encyclopedia. It didn't matter which volume of our (even then) ancient set he had. He would read it from start to end like a novel. There was always something in it that interested him. Unlike me, he was a great extrovert and he used his magpie storage of information to talk intelligently to anyone on almost any subject. If he didn't know about their subject before he talked to them, by the end of the conversation, he had a good working knowledge of whatever they were interested in.
I hardly remember a time when I was growing up that my mother was not taking some sort of class or another. She had a hunger for education and continually stretched herself. When I was in Jr. High, she decided to go back to college to get her degree. She was continually studying, learning all sorts of new things and I became her guinea pig for her exercises in classes ranging from audiology to psychology. For me, it was fascinating because I was learning along with her. It was great!
By the time I was in High School and had moved back to our hometown in Central Texas, Sunday afternoon for the two of us was made up of her studying while I baked bread. She would take a break for a slice of fresh bread while we watched Julia Child and then we would lay around reading through the huge dictionary she used for her studies. We would find some obscure or funny sounding word and challenge each other to use the word in conversation during the week. It's amazing when you learn a new word at how many times it will show up.
I don't think I really ever had a chance to be anything other than curious but it was also something that I learned. You can learn it to. Allow yourself time to begin asking questions like those in Leonardo's notebook. Start a notebook and spend time each day to just think and ponder. I understand how hard that can be in our busy lives but I'm going to begin carving time out myself and I challenge you to do the same. Can we do it for a week, to begin with? Let's do it together.
(from "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci" by Michael J. Gelb)
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
When to start
The biggest obstacle to learning that I see in the classes that I teach is perfectionism. There is always at least one person in a given class who will get highly agitated during the session because what they're doing isn't perfect. I've been teaching textile craft techniques for more than 10 years. I've taught everything from beginner's classes with people who've never touched yarn or fiber in their entire lives to advanced classes with people who've practiced their craft for years. I've taught people to spin yarn, knit, crochet, tat, do bobbin lace, make jewelry and use a lucet. That's a lot of people doing a lot of things and I can tell you there's nothing better than seeing the look of surprised joy on someone's face when the fiber they're spinning actually holds together or they make the stitches correctly. And there's nothing more frustrating than someone who won't allow themselves to be bad at something until they're not. I know what they're capable of but they don't allow themselves to get there.
We expect a lot out of each other and we expect even more of ourselves. For women, this is a particular problem. I know. I've always fooled people into thinking I'm good at everything when really what I was doing was only doing the things I was good at. Smoke and mirrors for fear that I might look foolish doing something badly. There were always enough things I was competent in to keep up the illusion. Until I realized that I was missing out on some great stuff because I was afraid to start. At the beginning. And be bad at it.
I don't do that anymore. Well, almost any more. I've stepped out in a few ways this year that have scared me enough for me to back off from them. I'm trying to face those inner fears by pushing forward in those projects but it's not always easy going.
This is a bobbin lace project I'm working on. I'm going through an extensive workbook on this particular technique, called Torchon lace. This pattern sat on my work space for more than a month. The previous 14 projects were completed within about 3 weeks but then I came to this one. It was intimidating and I didn't know how to start. The workbook doesn't have very good instructions for this pattern and assumed a lot of knowledge that I didn't have. So rather than putting on my big girl pants and figuring it out, I deflected. One project after another distracted me from it but there it sat until I realized what I was doing and called BS on myself and just got to it. It looks fine right now with all the pins in it, hiding the many, many mistakes that are there.
I tell my students all the time when they want to take everything out and start over because they've made a mistake. STOP IT! Don't worry about the mistake, just keep moving forward. Learn why the mistake happened and incorporate that learning into the process but keep moving. On one part, the instructions were there but I didn't take enough time to understand them so it's not like it should be. OK. I made the mistake, recognized it and now I know how to do that type of stitch. Mission accomplished. Once I'm done and it's off the pillow, I can always work it again and keep this one nearby to help me do those difficult stitches correctly. I didn't know how to do it, but I did it so now I know how to do it. That sounds like a win to me.
Look. A plan is never going to be perfect. Start somewhere and figure it out as you go along. When you start learning a new skill, you're not going to be great at it. In fact, you'll probably suck at it. For a while. Get over it and go for it. Embrace the suckiness of learning to do something new or doing something you've never done before. Since you're never going to be perfect from the start, you actually have to do it until you get good at it.
I have things I've invested enough time and effort in that I'm very good at them. I have other things that I haven't invested as much time and effort in and I'm good enough to enjoy doing it but nothing more than that. I have other things that I'm not great at and I'm fine with that.
So the moral of the story is, don't let fear of the suckiness hold you back from the steps that are necessary to create and excel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)