After an enriching two weeks in residence, I landed at Toronto Pearson's Airport on August 1st around dinner time. My better half was waiting and I have to admit I was a tad disappointed as I didn't see our 4 children. He quickly took my bags and was rushing me to the car which I couldn't understand as anyone who knows Mark can relate....he doesn't rush anywhere!!
So as we quickly walked up the stairs and toward the ramp that takes you to the parking garage, I heard a barrage of foot steps behind me and my kids all ran up to greet me. What a feeling it's great to be home.
The drive home was quite entertaining as I discussed my two week adventure and journey into this new world of academic learning. I posed the question, "Tell me what you think epistemology means." My son who is very quick and 'connected' in a connectivism Siemens (2004) way quickly jumped on to Wikipedia and rambled off a definition. So I quickly corrected him and told him to cite an academic site not Wikipedia to which I got a typical teenage boy answer..."Mom you don't know!". Then my 12 year old gave her idea, she advised that it sounded like something having to do with being mad and the process someone goes through to get mad. Interesting analogy. When I tried to give a simple definition they went kind of quiet.
So move on to the next question, what is knowledge....lol! I know you're all laughing with me right now. The replies were varied, "well I know because you told me" and "because I remember something" and finally "because I learned it". They were slightly interested but then decided that figuring out what restaurant we were going to eat at was more important.
One final point about my kids that I found quite funny came from my youngest. My husband was asking what assignments were left to complete and as I explained a 2000 word one on my learning theory and then a journal article critique, Kyla the baby of the bunch pipes in "oh that's easy mommy, take two pictures and send them in because they say a picture is worth a 1000 words so send in 2 pictures and there's your 2000 words!!" Somehow I don't think Stu and Carrie would appreciate her humor.
As I mentioned it's great to be home but I feel like a baby bird leaving the nest for the first time. The comfort in knowing you're together with your group and you are in the same boat in terms of self doubt was reassuring and provided a security so to speak. Now we are out 'here' on our own in this virtual world.
I am inspired as I previously said when we did our gathering with the rocks. Inspired by all of you as you are all brilliant in my eyes and you each bring your own expertise and knowledge to your learning journey and yet you will enhance mine at the same time. I feel like I've grown since July 6th (even though I've shrunk in size!). I find I am more aware of 'stuff' and I am more attuned to the world around me, listening and watching. In my old police world we joked about having a spidey sense, well this sense is different and I like it and look forward to seeing the change in me that it brings about.
Bentz & Shapiro (1998) state "the intellectual situation of the present seems to cry out for both personal and philosophical awareness and self-reflection." (p.34). I have started to reread Bentz & Shapiro (1998), and it is amazing how much you miss the first time through. I actually enjoy reading this time...is that weird??
Now before I get back to reading and more reading, below are a couple of pictures that I hope will make you smile. One is of my new office space, I have taken over our dining room table as I like to be spread out and our office desk just wasn't cutting it and the second is how I am feeling today. Three more sleeps before my provincial show, today was my last session of 60 minutes of cardio followed by weights. It is kind of a good feeling. To put it into perspective for all of you, it is like that feeling we will have when we walk across the stage in 2017 at our graduation. The jug of water that you see in the picture is the amount of water I have to consume, 7L today, 8L tomorrow and 9L on Friday! Perhaps I should just set up shop in the bathroom lol! ok on that note, back to work and I hope this post finds you all well and enjoying your return home.
References:
Bentz, V.M. & Shapiro, J.J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research . Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage.
Seimens, G. (2004) Connectivism: a theory for the digital age eLearningSpace. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
So as we quickly walked up the stairs and toward the ramp that takes you to the parking garage, I heard a barrage of foot steps behind me and my kids all ran up to greet me. What a feeling it's great to be home.
The drive home was quite entertaining as I discussed my two week adventure and journey into this new world of academic learning. I posed the question, "Tell me what you think epistemology means." My son who is very quick and 'connected' in a connectivism Siemens (2004) way quickly jumped on to Wikipedia and rambled off a definition. So I quickly corrected him and told him to cite an academic site not Wikipedia to which I got a typical teenage boy answer..."Mom you don't know!". Then my 12 year old gave her idea, she advised that it sounded like something having to do with being mad and the process someone goes through to get mad. Interesting analogy. When I tried to give a simple definition they went kind of quiet.
So move on to the next question, what is knowledge....lol! I know you're all laughing with me right now. The replies were varied, "well I know because you told me" and "because I remember something" and finally "because I learned it". They were slightly interested but then decided that figuring out what restaurant we were going to eat at was more important.
One final point about my kids that I found quite funny came from my youngest. My husband was asking what assignments were left to complete and as I explained a 2000 word one on my learning theory and then a journal article critique, Kyla the baby of the bunch pipes in "oh that's easy mommy, take two pictures and send them in because they say a picture is worth a 1000 words so send in 2 pictures and there's your 2000 words!!" Somehow I don't think Stu and Carrie would appreciate her humor.
As I mentioned it's great to be home but I feel like a baby bird leaving the nest for the first time. The comfort in knowing you're together with your group and you are in the same boat in terms of self doubt was reassuring and provided a security so to speak. Now we are out 'here' on our own in this virtual world.
I am inspired as I previously said when we did our gathering with the rocks. Inspired by all of you as you are all brilliant in my eyes and you each bring your own expertise and knowledge to your learning journey and yet you will enhance mine at the same time. I feel like I've grown since July 6th (even though I've shrunk in size!). I find I am more aware of 'stuff' and I am more attuned to the world around me, listening and watching. In my old police world we joked about having a spidey sense, well this sense is different and I like it and look forward to seeing the change in me that it brings about.
Bentz & Shapiro (1998) state "the intellectual situation of the present seems to cry out for both personal and philosophical awareness and self-reflection." (p.34). I have started to reread Bentz & Shapiro (1998), and it is amazing how much you miss the first time through. I actually enjoy reading this time...is that weird??
Now before I get back to reading and more reading, below are a couple of pictures that I hope will make you smile. One is of my new office space, I have taken over our dining room table as I like to be spread out and our office desk just wasn't cutting it and the second is how I am feeling today. Three more sleeps before my provincial show, today was my last session of 60 minutes of cardio followed by weights. It is kind of a good feeling. To put it into perspective for all of you, it is like that feeling we will have when we walk across the stage in 2017 at our graduation. The jug of water that you see in the picture is the amount of water I have to consume, 7L today, 8L tomorrow and 9L on Friday! Perhaps I should just set up shop in the bathroom lol! ok on that note, back to work and I hope this post finds you all well and enjoying your return home.
References:
Bentz, V.M. & Shapiro, J.J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research . Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage.
Seimens, G. (2004) Connectivism: a theory for the digital age eLearningSpace. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm