A couple things have happened recently that really make me feel good. What were the qualities you might ask? Well, I’ll tell ya.
The events both had a small number of people and were largely unscripted. No agenda really. Just communicating. I was excited. I felt good. I was with people I knew I could learn from. In my mind, they were there to simply place our team near good people, and see what happened. And, maybe, be inspired by the wonderful people around us. I have not felt that way in some time.
Event Number One. Our small team met via Zoom with the amazing Teaching and Learning Innovations team at the California State University at Channel Islands. The team there is similar in size, as is the university.
The Lesson: Reach out to similar groups and share ideas
We have had connections with them over the years in various spaces, but as a group, we have never met with all of them at once. So, we did. We did introductions and talked about things that work. Things that failed. The struggle of COVID. They do some things, like they have a faculty member as part of their team. We don’t. But we should. We could. And that is something I am very interested in.
It is good to see the faces and hear the voices of others doing the same work you do. It makes me feel less lonely. That is good. Over the six years I have been here we have travelled to a couple nearby colleges and met with similar teams. And we have had a visit to our campus, or maybe two, from teams from other universities. Go meet those people! That is what I am learning.
Last week, a learning community I am involved with met with wonderful and generous Robin DeRosa.
The Lesson: There are amazing, gifted, and wonderful people out there. Go meet them.
The small learning community is focused on teaching and learning on the open web. We wonder about a lot of stuff and play and learn and incorporate ideas into classes. Of course, we do. But as a group, we are only so wise. We need more vision. We read things and watch videos. Still, we need to connect these loose threads to emotions. To people. We wanted to know about Pressbooks.
We invited the wonderful Robin DeRosa to share her story about Pressbooks. It was captivating. The discovery for her altered her teaching and as she told the story we were inspired by her laughter, her language, her presence there with us! It was better than a video you can pause. It moved with the questions we had. The experience made us laugh. Made us wonder. It was wonderful. I am super excited. We plan to invite guests each month. Or frequently 🙂 Next month we have invited my hero Lisa Young.
Some time ago I gave a presentation at an OLC conference about informal learning networks. I need to get back to operating in that space. I love the small communities where ideas are expressed without fear. Creativity and process are of the highest value. And each person, who you can name and know, is valued simply because you actually know them.
I can’t think of a better version of that than the many years I was aware of, and sometimes a participant in the “Cyber Salon.” It is a loose group of Phoenix area educators who have found camaraderie in common need or desire. I still laugh at how it was first described to me, “We meet in bars. The only rules are that we need wi-fi and alcohol. Maybe food. See you there.”
I am very weary of the grand collaborations with oodles of cooks in the kitchen. Spaces like that, exactly like large classrooms, make it hard to see, and feel, the progress of others. I think that is why I try so hard to connect individually with faculty. I can see them grow.
I am going to work hard at reestablishing connective tissue between those faculty I feel I have lost touch with. I am going to reach out to them. Just them. Each one unique. Each one a human to care for.
Maybe that is what I am looking for. Care.