Reflecting on adult learners

A back yard Igloo

       One of the things I have taken from the forum discussion on adult learners is that they need to understand why the learning is important and what the information relates to. It makes me think about the times I have decided to try something just for the experience. There are also some experiences that it would take a great deal of convincing for me to try. But trying something is not quite as good as really wanting to learn something.
       A couple of years ago I built a back yard Igloo for a new years party. The guests were quite impressed and some asked if I would come and build one at their house or perhaps teach them how. I was reminded of how keen I had been on learning how to make an Igloo in grade 10. A motivated learner is a special thing. Learning to motivate yourself is something worth learning.

Back to Blogger School with Instructional Strategies 3250

I can see the cycles of change; I can be the cycles of change.

Eagles nest by the river -- this dead cottonwood has fallen and the new nest is on the other side of the river 

I am working on this blog again as part of my last class in the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program. It feels great to be learning by doing and focusing on completing another stage in my journey of life long learning. I feel good about the instructional strategies course. 
I am leading a discussion forum on adult learners and have been quite conscious of myself as an adult learner.  I find myself thinking about the ways I know myself as a learner. I am a good observer and I am a great learner. I feel like I become even better at learning with each new skill I acquire. I feel like it is important for all learners to have confidence in their learning abilities.

New horrizons

Some perspective is important as is time for play

New projects force new learning

moving rocks is hard but still the simple stuff for me

Some school desks are right where they need to be

I pile sticks and prune trees and I watch and learn

What is Art?

the deer gate is sometimes left open

I put up signs and stack wood but where is the art?

There are little creatures guarding the gate but I do not see any art?

There are mushrooms growing on the Indian elephants rotting on a old boat but no art?

There are some interesting things going on here but I do not quite know what to say?

Rubber aliens guard a second gate

Flying things on the fence line

Funny to find this hear?

Perhaps a few places to sit but where is the view?

Silly things like this are hard to understand?

Somethings make me feel spooked but that is not art?

A close friend's soup company - Soup du Jar - is learning for me too

Where education stops and where it begins is not that well discussed in traditional forums. You start learning right away and you stop when your body is returned to the earth. I have learned an amazing amount about business from watching people learn to make their ideas work. Self learning is the cutting edge. It is not so much a challenge to traditional education as it is a challenge to all of us. Keep learning or open a museum. These are some soup business pictures I thought might add some nutrition or out the box thinking.

Taking pictures of food is something you should learn by doing

Eating soup is learning too

Self learning is hard work when you take it seriously

I tell lots of stories about my chickens

I have many stories about chickens. They follow me around and cause problems but they are also an interesting connection to the wild. One of mine or my cousins hens raised 13 chicks on the edge of the creek last year and now this flock lives in the cherry tree beside my chicken coop. The birds raised in the wild have some extra wisdom about the their own safety and I have a hard time penning them in. Instead I try to keep them out of places I need for my self. This is an ongoing struggle and I may have to take more control but it is interesting to see the balance of things. There is a also a time to eat the rosters. Although the one pictured below has earned my favor in the past and he knows it. He seems to follow me and try to show me his superior intelligence about the situation he is in.

Roster on the porch

Chickens raised on the land live in the cherry tree all year

The rosters and chickens have their own lives around here

In the winter the chickens appreciate a little shoveling but make their own roads

Chickens in the tree after a heavy snow fall

Nice to learn in a natural environment with animals also learning

My dog likes my rock stacking and she understands what it does
 to the change the lay of the land 

Learning is always better when you can share it

Sometimes it is fun to put up signs precisely because the are unnecessary

Things can be learned by taking time and walking with the animals